This fund is designed to promote the creation of new businesses and the provision of expansion capital to early stage businesses. The iMbewu Fund aims to cultivate a culture of entrepreneurship by offering debt, quasi-equity and equity finance of up to R20m comprising:

• Entrepreneurship Finance
• Procurement Finance
• Franchise Finance
• Rural & Community Development Projects

Imbewu Entrepreneurship Finance would provides risk capital to new businesses and to early stage businesses owned and managed by black people meeting the following criteria:

• BEE applicant should be actively involved in the business

• Minimum black ownership of 50.1%

• Industry experience in consortium i.e. from BEE party or non-BEE partners

• NEF mentorship programme, participation is obligatory

• Capital structure should be sustainable. NEF to provide  shortfall in equity/quasi-equity capital

• Business with clear value add – sustainable business model

• Business should employ minimum of 5 people

• Maximum NEF funding of R5m

• The NEF investment horizon is 5 to 7 years

• NEF will target a nominal pre-tax IRR of between 12% to 18% on  its funding

Imbewu’s procurement finance product is a debt product aimed at financing working capital requirements associated with procurement contracts. The product enables BEE groups to access preferential procurement opportunities whilst simultaneously providing mechanisms aimed at mitigating NEF investment risk.
The key features of the NEF product would be as follows:

• Primarily short to medium term
  debt product 

• Repayment terms matched to
  contract terms 

• NEF funding generally limited to R10m 

• Active BEE management participation 

• Minimum black ownership of 50.1% 

• Industry knowledge within the
  Borrower’s management structure 

• NEF will seek to co-finance with 
  commercial banks to mitigate risk 

• NEF reserves the right to oblige 
  applicant to participate in the NEF
  mentorship programme

The Imbewu Franchise Finance is geared towards enabling black people to 
leverage the infrastructure available within the franchise industry in order to 
gain access to economic opportunities whilst reducing investment risk.

The criteria of the product are.
• NEF has a preference to fund top 40 rated franchises

• Active management participation by BEE parties

• Minimum BEE shareholding of 50.1%

• Transactions will be structured with sustainable capital structure, 

• NEF funding to bridge shortfall in equity

• BEE party to have pre-qualified with franchisor

• NEF funding generally limited to R5m

• NEF will target a nominal pre-tax IRR of between 12% to 15% on its funding

• The NEF investment horizon is 5 to 7 year

The rural and community development projects facilitates community involvement in projects promoting social and economic upliftment. In accordance with the BB-BEE Act, it aims to increase the extent to whichworkers, cooperatives and other collective enterprises own and manage business enterprises. Also it supports the BB-BEE Act objectives of empowering local and rural communities.

• Involvement of black managers at a senior operational level as owners

• Active presence of black investors at board level, including women, as owners

• Substantial ownership by black employees

• Joint ventures between black and non- black partners with the objective of skills transfer

• Minimum BEE shareholding of 50.1% 

• NEF will invest using debt, equity and quasi-equity instruments

• NEF will target a nominal pre-tax IRR of 10% to 12%

• NEF funding generally limited to R20m

• The NEF investment horizon is 7 to 10 years