Standard Bank, in partnership with the City of Johannesburg, has given small businesses a massive boost through the approval of the Working Capital Fund (WCF)
The fund, a whopping R250 million, is aimed at bolstering entrepreneurs and supporting the City’s economic transformation initiatives such as small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMME) economic transformation programmes.
Kgamanyane Maphologela, the City of Johannesburg group finance’s director of customer communications, explained that the objective of the fund was to contribute to socio-economic development within the city.
“This initiative will, among others, promote entrepreneurship and develop enterprises to ultimately become mature businesses that can sustain themselves in the long term,” he said.
“A central principle of the WCF’s funding philosophy is the collaboration between Standard Bank and the City to find innovative equity funding solutions to meet the unique requirements of the City’s SMMEs and co-ops.”
Maphologela also elaborated on some of the key aspects required for businesses to qualify for the fund, including meeting the definition of a small business.
“The entity must be based in and operate in the city and also be a legally registered entity and compliant with all the legal requirements of a registered entity,” he said.
Additionally, the small business must be up to date with their municipal rates and taxes as well as with the South African Revenue Services.
He added that for businesses to be considered, applications would be done through the Business Development Suppliers which will provide technical, financial and business development support.
Other criteria for businesses to be considered:
- Significant potential for growth (in sales, profits and shareholder value) based on a clear strategy and scalable business model.
- The management team should ideally have a successful track record within the relevant industry and/or in bringing new products to market or, in the case of Jozi@work co-ops, the Capability Support Agent must demonstrate adequate management support.
- The entity must have a legally binding supplier contract with the City.
Details: 011 358 3420.
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