The Minara Chamber of Commerce announced the opening of nominations in June 2016 for the prestigious Minara Chamber Business Recognition Awards 2016. The Annual Awards, now in the seventh year, are considered a premier event on the business calendar and attract more than 400 high profile guests from across the country. Past recipients of the Business Awards have included Iqbal Surve of the Sekunjalo Group, Faizal Motlekar of Motlekar Holdings and Razack Moosa of Willowton Group.

The prestigious awards are open to all South African Muslim individuals and Muslimowned businesses. Nominations were called for in the following categories:

• Business of the Year
• Businessman of the Year
• Businesswoman of the Year
• Young Entrepreneur of the Year
• Professional Achiever of the Year
• Community Builder of the Year

The nominations process was closed on the 15 August and the Chamber has received an overwhelming number of outstanding individuals and businesses in the various categories.

The recipients of the awards will be announced at a Gala Dinner event on 21st October 2016 in Durban.

The Awards Gala Dinner will broadcast live on ITV and will be covered throughout by the Muslim Views Newspaper.

Mr Ebrahim Patel, President of the Minara Chamber commented, “This year’s Awards will be building on the success of previous Awards and reflect the mission and objectives of the Chamber, which are to promote the growth and development of a vibrant and dynamic business community by recognising excellence, innovation and creativity in our community and the contribution that has been made towards socio-economic development in South Africa.”

Mr Patel added, “This year we are proud to have a growing number of organisations and companies partner with us. We welcome Standard Bank as the Platinum Sponsor of the Awards. This year we have partnered with Awqaf SA, Association of Muslim Accountants and Lawyers (AMAL) and Muslim Professionals’ Network (MPN), who through their reach and access have enhanced and supported the nomination process. The Awards Gala Dinner attracts the who’s who of the business world and is the ideal platform for networking, promoting and marketing a business. In this regard sponsorship and partnership opportunities are available.”

Ameen Hassen, Head of Shariah Banking for Standard Bank stated, “We congratulate the Minara Chamber of Commerce on their Annual Recognition Awards wherein they recognise the positive socio-economic impact that individuals have achieved. It gives us great pleasure to be a part of this event as it is through the promotion of business and entrepreneurship that the focus areas of Africa’s growth shall be achieved as we strongly believe that Africa is our home and we are responsible for driving her growth. We look forward to another great event.”

Minara Chamber of Commerce represents the voice of organised business interests and emerging entrepreneurs primarily from the Muslim community. Membership extends throughout South Africa and is open to all businesses irrespective of race or religion. The Chamber’s objective is to promote the development and growth of businesses through empowerment and collaboration. The Chamber provides a platform for networking, facilitates the identification of trade opportunities, and promotes entrepreneurship. 

For further information, kindly contact Amina Haniff at the Minara offices on Tel: 031 208 1898 or
E-Mail: awards@minara.org.za