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Topic Discussion about National Empowerment Fund

 

EATURE

T

funding a business can

be overwhelming. Funds

targeted at industries and

businesses which contribute to

the economic development of the

country are known as "development

funds", and are largely supported

by government institutions. They

are aligned with key national

economic development imperatives.

Knowing which ones to target can

save you time and frustration, and

increase your chances of success.

Here are some of the

options available.

he practicalities of

1. BUSINESS PARTNERS

Business Partners is a financing

company for small and medium

enterprises. The company is

unlisted and has assets of more

than R1,74 billion. Business

Partners has invested over

R9,7 billion in businesses owned

and run by entrepreneurs since

inception. The company invests

in enterprises in the commercial,

manufacturing and services

sectors of the economy. The only

exceptions are farming operations

and non-profit organisations, which

are not eligible for finance.

Business Partners serves the

small and medium enterprise

(SME) market by offering tailormade

financial solutions for

entrepreneurs, making use of

loan financing, equity financing

and quasi-equity financing, or any

combination of these instruments.

As one of the country's leading

specialised investment companies

for SMEs, Business Partners'

mandate is to invest capital,

skill and knowledge into viable

entrepreneurial enterprises.

Operational decisions are taken

to ensure long-term sustainability

and delivery of exceptional value to

clients and shareholders.

Business Partners-Khula

Start-Up Fund

Studies have shown that access

to start-up capital is one of the

main stumbling blocks facing new

entrepreneurs and enterprises. The

private sector is not particularly

active with regard to the provision

of start-up capital for SMEs.

In addition to its own investment

funds, Business Partners is also

managing a joint venture fund, the

Business Partners-Khula Startup

Fund - a R150 million fund

established together with Khula

Enterprise Finance Limited in

2006. It aims to empower South

Africa's historically disadvantaged

entrepreneurs to establish

new enterprises.

The fund also assists existing

business in need of funding. It

offers new products or services

for those who have been operating

for three years or more and are

planning early-stage expansion.

The fund exclusively targets

black owned (minimum black

shareholding 51%) as well as black

managed and black empowered

(minimum 26% black shareholding)

SMEs. Special focus is given to

female entrepreneurs and the

minimum target for the fund is to

achieve a portfolio mix in which at

least 33% of the SMEs funded are

owned by women.

Investments made by Business

Partners-Khula Start-up Fund are

structured using equity, royalties

and term loans or any combination

of these. Individual solutions are

structured after having assessed

the potential return of the venture

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Date : September, 01 , 2009 Publication : Entrepreneur - Supplement 1 Page Number: 2-4

and level of risk. Investment ranges

from R150 000 to R3 million, and

repayment is calculated over five to

eight years.

Own contribution is not

necessarily a pre-requisite.

Investment decisions are based

on business viability and the

entrepreneur's, rather than solely

relying on the availability of

collateral and own contribution.

Contact details

+27 11 480 8700

enquiries@businesspartners.co.za

www.businesspartners.co.za

2. THE INDUSTRIAL

DEVELOPMENT

CORPORATION (IDC)

The IDC is a state-owned funding

organisation that supports small,

medium and micro enterprises

(SMMEs) and assists new

entrepreneurs to enter the economy.

Its financial instruments include

loans, venture capital, equity,

quasi-equity, share warehousing,

wholesale and bridging finance,

guarantees .export and import

finance and short-term

trade finance.

Every application is considered

on its own merits but the IDC

does use some broad financing

criteria. Every project should exhibit

economic merit - in other words

it needs to be profitable. It favours

the development of new projects,

expansions or rehabilitation of

existing projects. Whether it

requires security or takes equity

in a business (and if so, how

much) depends on the nature of

the business, its risk profile and

ability to contribute significantly to

economic development.

Security is tailored to each

transaction and may include

personal suretyships, corporate

guarantees, bonds over fixed

and moveable assets and pledge

or cessation of shares. Where

applicable, businesses should also

comply with relevant environmental

legislation.

The minimum and maximum

amounts applicable for funding

applicants varies from sector to

sector. These include:

■ Chemicals and allied industries

■ Metal, transport and machinery

products

■ Wood and paper Industries

■ Techno-industries

■ Textile and clothing

■ Healthcare and education

■ Transportation, financial services,

security and catering

■ International finance

■ Food, beverage and agro

Industries

■ Mining and beneficiation

■ Public and private partnerships

■ Venture capital

■ Franchising

■ Media and motion pictures

In the lead up to the FIFA 2010

Soccer World Cup, it has also

placed greater emphasis on the

tourism and construction sectors:

2010 and construction

The IDC provides funding for

business that is directly linked

to South Africa's hosting of the

World Cup Soccer event, including

companies from sub-sectors such

plant hire, scaffolding, landscaping,

demolition works and facilities

management. A key consideration

is whether the applicant has been

awarded a contract (or can produce

a letter of award). Applications

of R500, 000 and above are

considered. Applicants should be

actively involved in the business and

preference will be given to those

businesses that have job creation

potential for women, disadvantaged

provinces, rural areas and

townships.

Tourism sector funding

The IDC provides funding for

accommodation, attractions, events

and festivals that have significant

tourism impact potential. It does not

fund casino and gambling facilities,

property development, timeshare

or share block schemes or the

acquisition of game. The minimum

loan amount in South Africa is R1

million and shareholders in the

business must make a financial

contribution of at least 40%.

When making any application to

the IDC you should be prepared to

present a comprehensive business

plan and latest audited financial

results (if your business is already

established) at the very least,

although the precise documentation

requirements differs from one type

of application to another.

Contact details

+2711 269 3000,+2786 069

3888 callcentre@idc.co.za

www.idc.co.za

3. THE INNOVATION FUND

An instrument of the Department

of Science and Technology, the

Innovation Fund provides financial

and other assistance to businesses

involved in novel technology

development and commercialisation.

It has three main funding

instruments, which help businesses

in various stages of developing and

bringing their technology innovation

to market. Each of them is relevant

to SMEs.

Research and

development funding

The Technology Advancement

Programme (TAP) invests in latestage

research and development

of a technological innovation that

promises novelty and inventiveness.

This is ideal for businesses that

have an idea and need help

developing it further. The TAP is

targeted at innovations that have

proof-of-science and need to be

taken to the proof-of-concept

(prototype) stage. It is open to

publicly-funded institutions, small

and medium businesses and

any consortia consisting of these

two. So if you're partnering with

a higher education institution or

science council on developing your

innovation, this fund would still

apply to you.

Taking an Innovation

to market

While the R&D funding instrument

does make provision for early

commercialisation planning (to

ensure that a business plan

exists once the prototype has

been developed) it is really the

Seed Fund that takes innovations

from prototype stage to early

commercialisation. In order to

share risk, it encourages coinvestment

and investment from

capital markets. The Seed Fund is

ideal for those businesses who's

financial projections won't attract

venture capital funding but which

nevertheless promise sustainable

financial, economic and social

returns from a national development

perspective.

Patent funding and support

The third set of Innovation Fund

instruments focuses on intellectual

property support, and places

emphasis on the importance

of filing patents. There are four

instruments under this umbrella.

The Patent Support Fund for SMEs

helps to absorb the costs that

small businesses incur in patenting

their IP. The Patent Support

Fund-Technopreneurs is aimed at

individuals who need to file at least

a South African provisional patent

for their technological innovation.

The innovation needs to have

commercial merit and the potential

to reach prototype stage within

twelve months. The Patent Support

Fund for Research Institutions and

the Patent Incentive Scheme Fund

are both targeted at publicly funded

organisations and are therefore not

relevant to SMEs.

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1 Page Number: 24

FEATURE

Criteria

The Innovation Fund uses different

criteria for each of the above

funding instruments. Broadly

speaking the innovation needs

to be a novel technology which

has not existed before, and have

a viable value proposition in a

commercial market.

While a strong business case is

vital, it is not the only criteria as

the Innovation Fund also looks for

value creation, export potential of

products and sustainable positive

social impacts.

The business will also need to

show that it has the right skills set

for business success. The Fund

uses a flexible returns structure,

including royalty, equity, convertible

loans or a combination of these.

Contact details

Tel:+27 12 686 8200

■ R&D Instruments: iftap®innovationfund.ac.za

■ Seed Fund: ifseedfund®innovationfund.ac.za

■ IP Instruments: ifipmo®innovationfund.ac.za

www.innovationfund.ac.za

4. NATIONAL

EMPOWERMENT FUND

As its name suggests the National

Empowerment Fund (NEF), an instrument

of the dti, targets

BEE companies.

The Imbewu Fund is most relevant

to entrepreneurs and funds

the creation of new businesses as

well as the expansion of existing

ones, offering debt, quasiequity

and equity finance up to

R20 million.

The fund is divided into four

areas, the following three of which

are relevant to SMEs. In all cases,

a minimum 50,1% BEE shareholding

and active black management

participation is required:

Entrepreneurship Finance

This fund provides risk capital up to

R5 million to new and earlystage

businesses that employ a minimum

of five people. Participation in an

NEF mentorship programme is

mandatory and the NEF targets

a nominal pretax

internal rate of

return (IRR) of between 12%

and 18%.

Procurement Finance

Here the NEF will provide funding

of up to R10 million for working

capital requirements associated

with procurement contracts,

and may seek confinancing

opportunities with commercial

banks. The repayment terms are

matched to the procurement

contract terms and the business

may be required to participate in a

mentorship programme.

5. NEF IMBEWU

FRANCHISE FINANCE

Targeted at black entrepreneurs

who want to access the franchise

industry, this fund is limited to

R5 million with a pretax IRR of

between 12% and 15%. It favours

a list of top 40 rated franchises

and the applicant must have

prequalified

with the franchisor.

Imbewu Franchise Finance bridges

shortfalls in funding requirements

in the franchise sector with equity

financing.

Contact details

086 184 3633 (THE NEF)

info2@nefcorp.co.za

www.nefcorp.co.za

6. KHULA

Khula Enterprise Finance is

an independent agency of the

Department of Trade and Industry

(DTI) focusing specifically

on SMEs. It has established

relationships with commercial

banks, retail finance institutions,

specialist funds and joint ventures,

and through these channels is

able to offer complementary and

bridging finance. Its products

include:

Credit Indemnity Scheme:

by offering funding institutions a

guarantee, this scheme enables

SMEs to access funding from a

banking or financial institution.

Nedbank's partnership with Khula

enables the bank to finance fixed

assets or working capital, facilitate

the startup

of a business,

and finance empowerment

transactions.

Contact details

0860 116 400

business@nedbank.co.za

www.nedbank.co.za

Land Reform Empowerment

Facility:

European Union and funded by the

Department of Land Affairs, this

instrument facilitates land transfer

to black people in the agricultural

and ecotourism

sectors.

supported by the

Non-Bank Retail Financial

Intermediaries: these

accredited companies lend money

directly to SMEs, having received

the loan funds from Khula on

accreditation.

JOINT VENTURES:

Anglo-Khula Mining Fund:

with coinvestment

from Anglo

American, this fund provides seed

capital for junior but commercially

viable mining ventures who want to

enter the mainstream industry

Enablls-Khula Loan Fund:

partnership between Khula, Enablis

and FNB, this fund provides 90%

guarantees for loans awarded

to ICTfocussed

or ICTenabled

businesses.

The criteria, investment structure

and repayment terms for each of

these instruments is assessed on a

case by case basis.

Contact details

+278600 KHULA (54852)

helpline@khula.org.za

www.khula.org.zaD

a

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WHAT CAN DEVELOPMENT

FINANCE DO FOR YOU?

 

Date : September, 01 , 2009 Publication : Entrepreneur - Supplement 1 Page Number: 2-4

Date : September, 01 , 2009 Publication : Entrepreneur - Supplement 1 Page Number: 2-4

THERE ARE A VARIETY OF DEVELOPMENT FINANCE

INSTRUMENTS AVAILABLE TO SMEs - BUT YOU NEED TO

KNOW WHICH ONE YOU QUALIFY FOR. BY JULIET PITMAN

FUNDING

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