Local SMMEs invited to apply for funding
“Funding will be provided to applicants qualifying for NEF financial support, where financial viability of the project has been proven."
KwaThema – Enterprenuers in Ekurhuleni were encouraged to take up the available business funding opportunities offered by the metro.
This was said during the launch of the Ekurhuleni Community Enterprise Development Fund (Fetola Fund) in which the metro partnered with the National Empowerment Fund (NEF).
The initiative was launched at the KwaThema Business Hub on Friday.
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MMC for Finance, ICT and Economic Development Doctor Xhabasa says the Fetola Fund is a partnership funding mechanism established to provide financial support to black enterprises conducting businesses with the metro.
“The fund has been capitalised to the tune of R300-million over three years; R150-m will be sourced from the metro and the other half from NEF.
“Funding will be provided to applicants qualifying for NEF financial support, where financial viability of the project has been proven.
“The fund will focus specifically on majority black-owned entities and transactions that are commercially viable and sustainable.
“It will also focus on businesses that are unlocking investment support in the metro for new and established small and micro black-owned enterprises,” he explains.
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The CEO of NEF, Philisiwe Mthethwa, says the strategic objective of the fund is to stimulate the economic participation of black-owned small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) operating within the metro by providing access to funding support through a combination of concession debt, debt and equity finance.
“We will also develop suppliers participating in the metro value chain by providing financial support to eligible applicants.
“We also want to encourage the development of black-owned industrialists within the metro,” she explains.
Mthethwa adds to qualify, the eligible applicants need to submit a completed and signed NEF application form and supporting document.
“They need to have proven commercial viability and sustainability.
“The applicant must qualify for an NEF loan in order to be eligible for funding under the fund and be majority 51 per cent black-owned with black management control.
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“The shareholders must be operationally involved in the business and be registered as a legal entity in the country in terms of the South African Law.
“The SMME must conduct business within the metro and may be required to contribute a reasonable percentage of the total funding applied for as their contribution,” she explains.
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