Over R1 billion in small business funding approved
Thinking of returning to South Africa? The time might be right, as new government grants are being rolled out, especially for black-owned businesses
THE Small Business Finance Agency (Sefa) has approved funding of over R1 billion for small business development in South Africa over the last two years, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said in Pretoria on Friday.
“Sefa is less than two years old and it has already approved funding in excess of a billion to small business,” Patel said at the launch of the Godisa Fund, a R165-million partnership between Sefa, Transnet and the Anglo American corporation, which will provide funding to small black-owned businesses that are, or could become, suppliers to Transnet.
The minister said the government was investing roughly R200-billion a year in expanding South Africa’s infrastructure through new capacity in transport, water, energy, ICT and social infrastructure.
“This is the moment to ensure that young entrepreneurs are given support, that we expand the base of enterprises and create new job opportunities. The R165-million Godisa Fund is one element of a number of measures now being implemented across government to expand the economy and small businesses.”
Sefa, a subsidiary of the state-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), was formed from the merger of various small business funding agencies in April 2012.
The announcement comes following President Jacob Zuma’s message at the opening of the State of the Nation address (SONA) earlier this month, saying that South Africa will enter a new “radical phase” of economic transformation over the next five years to address poverty, unemployment and inequality, aimed at ensuring “that the owner of the economy is deracialised.”
