by Newsbreak Producer, Tashlan Naidoo - South Africa's struggling small-business sector is set to get a boost from a new AI-powered platform aimed at fixing gaps in the country's fragmented SMME support system. This comes as the country's entrepreneurial environment remains among the weakest globally, with many small businesses failing within their first five years. The platform, Rinku, aims to assess the specific challenges facing a business and connect entrepreneurs with relevant mentors, funding and development programmes. YIEDI CEO Jayshree Naidoo says the technology could be a game changer in measuring the long-term impact of support provided to SMMEs.