UNDP Launches Digital Drive to Transform South Africa’s Township Economy
UNDP has launched a major digital drive expected to reshape South Africa’s township economy, introducing the Digital Innovation for Modernising the Independent Economy (DIME) in partnership with the City of Johannesburg and Wakanda NPC. The announcement was made in Johannesburg on 24 November 2025.
The initiative brings a new digital public infrastructure aimed at strengthening township retail, improving food safety, and expanding financial inclusion. At the core of this programme is the Sphazamisa App, an integrated digital tool that provides township retailers with digital identity, food-safety monitoring, traceability, stock management and e-payment systems. The first rollout is underway across Gauteng, with a national scale-up planned. DIME was developed after the 2024 foodborne illness outbreaks revealed major gaps in public health monitoring and compliance systems. By equipping retailers with real-time digital tools and enabling municipalities to access early-warning dashboards, the programme aims to modernise an economic sector long excluded from formal support structures. It also repositions the so-called informal economy as the Independent Economy a R1 trillion marketplace built through resilience, ingenuity and community networks.
UNDP Resident Representative and Director of the Africa Sustainable Finance Hub, Maxwell Gomera, said township entrepreneurs have built a trillion-rand economy not because the system supported them, but often despite its limitations. He said DIME is designed to correct this imbalance by building economic systems that recognise township businesses as innovative, resilient and worthy of investment. According to him, the growth of township enterprises is directly linked to the growth of the nation. As part of the programme, retailers receive digital identities linked to the City’s business registry and use IoT-enabled tools to monitor food safety, stock levels and compliance. A network of Digital Ambassadors, with a strong focus on empowering young women, supports shop owners with digital literacy training and improved business management skills.
DIME also connects retailers to fintech partners, wholesalers and structured supply chains to enable secure digital payments, credit applications and financial literacy training. This aims to make township businesses visible, creditworthy and investment ready. Wakanda NPC CEO Miles Khubeka said the Sphazamisa App reflects the belief that community-rooted innovation can transform national economies. He said that when township entrepreneurs gain access to smart, simple digital tools, they do more than meet compliance standards they set new benchmarks for excellence and open pathways for economic breakthroughs.
The City of Johannesburg has committed its support, noting that regulation should unlock growth rather than restrict it. Mathopane Masha, Executive Director for Economic Development, said the City is focused on enabling safe and competitive trading environments and believes that digital innovation combined with township entrepreneurship creates strong new opportunities for inclusive growth.
Adding to this, Phumla Hlathi, Head of the Inclusive Growth Portfolio at UNDP South Africa, said DIME provides township enterprises with the digital backbone that has long been missing. She said that when communities are given tools that allow them to participate fully in the economy, development becomes real and tangible at household level, not just in policy documents. Aligned with South Africa’s G20 priorities on digital inclusion, food safety and youth employment, DIME is positioned as a scalable model for the future. Its overall aim is to ensure township enterprises are not only surviving but advancing confidently into a modern, digital economy that recognises their central role in national development.
