Limpopo Business 2016-17 edition
The 2016/17 edition of Limpopo Business is the eighth issue of this highly successful publication that, since its launch in 2007, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to the Limpopo province. Limpopo is unique in terms of its abundant natural and human resources, and is also one of the key drivers behind the South African economy. This edition of Limpopo Business is officially endorsed by the Office of the Premier of Limpopo.
The 2016/17 edition of Limpopo Business is the eighth issue of this highly successful publication that, since its launch in 2007, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to the Limpopo province.
Limpopo is unique in terms of its abundant natural and human resources, and is also one of the key drivers behind the South African economy.
This edition of Limpopo Business is officially endorsed by the Office of the Premier of Limpopo.
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
OVERVIEW<br />
combined annual turnover approaching<br />
R6-billion and employment<br />
numbers rising to 38 000.<br />
Zimele has established 29 small<br />
business hubs in areas such as<br />
Mokopane and Burgersfort.<br />
Quality issues in the SMME<br />
sector in <strong>Limpopo</strong> are being<br />
addressed through the support<br />
of the South African Bureau of<br />
Standards (SABS), which has undertaken<br />
to help SMMEs ensure<br />
that their products are up to<br />
scratch. Similarly, Productivity SA<br />
is involved in <strong>Limpopo</strong>: in 2014<br />
Ximambane Brickmaking Cooperative<br />
won the Productivity<br />
SA provincial award.<br />
The city of Polokwane was<br />
South Africa’s fastest-growing<br />
urban area between 2005 and<br />
2010, with a growth rate that<br />
was higher than 5%. The South<br />
African Cities Network study<br />
that came to this conclusion also<br />
noted that further research was<br />
needed to establish the reasons,<br />
but a growing economy is a good<br />
incubator for entrepreneurship.<br />
The services sector inevitably<br />
grows as cities grow.<br />
According to research done<br />
by Absa, SMMEs were supporting<br />
60% of the country’s employable<br />
population in 2011, against a<br />
figure of just 18% in 1998.<br />
Finance<br />
The LEDET approved about R20-<br />
million in 2014 in financing youth<br />
businesses in the province. In<br />
presenting his 2015/16 budget,<br />
The <strong>Limpopo</strong> MEC for Economic<br />
Development, Environment<br />
and Tourism, Seapora Sekoati,<br />
pledged R30-million to support co-operatives and an additional<br />
R80-million for SMME debt and equity financing and R10-million for<br />
non-financial support. This programme is a joint venture with various<br />
national state-owned enterprises, which all have a presence in<br />
<strong>Limpopo</strong>: the Small Enterprise Development Agency (an allocation<br />
of R10.3-million for non-financial support to SMMEs and cooperatives);<br />
Small Enterprise Finance Agency (R45-million for SMME financial<br />
support); and the Industrial Development Corporation, (which normally<br />
spends about R400-million in <strong>Limpopo</strong>). The IDC’s annual overall<br />
budget for financing is R20-billion.<br />
The IDC often takes shareholdings in companies to provide the<br />
capital required for these companies to scale up production or to offer<br />
new products. Some 48% of the 45 900 jobs created or saved by IDC<br />
initiatives are created in rural areas.<br />
<strong>Limpopo</strong> projects attracting the funding support of the IDC include<br />
an Nguni-cattle breeding scheme, a new hospital in Lebowakgomo,<br />
the development of a ferrochrome smelter and a facility for making<br />
coking coal briquettes.<br />
The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is another major<br />
funder of public projects. It announced in 2012 that it planned to invest<br />
heavily in public health (R20-billion), water, sanitation and energy<br />
(R40-billion) and transport infrastructure (between R30-billion and<br />
R50-billion).<br />
All of the major banks have SMME offerings. Absa Bank’s SME Fund is<br />
driven by its Small <strong>Business</strong> Division, Standard Bank runs a Community<br />
Investment Fund and Nedbank offers an enterprise development<br />
product for businesses with turnovers of up to R35-million. The commercial<br />
division of FNB has sections that deal with Start-up Funding<br />
and BEE Funding.<br />
<strong>Business</strong> Partners disbursed R966.2-million in SME funding in the<br />
2015/16 financial year.<br />
ONLINE RESOURCES<br />
<strong>Business</strong> Partners: www.businesspartners.co.za<br />
Development Bank of Southern Africa: www.dbsa.org<br />
Industrial Development Corporation: www.idc.co.za<br />
Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa:<br />
www.landbank.co.za<br />
<strong>Limpopo</strong> Department of Economic Development,<br />
Environment and Tourism: www.ledet.gov.za<br />
National Empowerment Fund: www.nefcorp.co.za<br />
Small Enterprise Development Agency: www.seda.org.za<br />
Small Enterprise Finance Agency: www.sefa.co.za<br />
Zimele: www.anglozimele.co.za<br />
83 LIMPOPO BUSINESS <strong>2016</strong>/<strong>17</strong>