National Empowerment Fund (NEF)
Government funding and grants like the National Empowerment Fund are targeted at black economic empowerment transactions. Through the provision of financial and non-financial support as well as creating a culture of saving and investing. The NEF is divided into four different types of government funding:
1. iMbewu fund
- Designed to as start-up business funding for black entrepreneurs as well as supporting existing black-owned enterprises with expansion capital.
- The fund offers:
- Debt finance
- Quasi-equity finance
- Equity finance.
- These have a range of funding between R250 000 and R10 million.
2. Rural and community development fund
- Designed to promote sustainable changes in the rural economy. Specifically in social and economic relations as well as supporting the goals of growth and development through financing of sustainable enterprises. This fund has three products:
- Acquisition finance
- New venture capital
- Expansion capital
- These have a range of funding between R1 million and R50 million
3. uMnotho fund
- Designed to improve access to BEE capital and offers five products:
- Acquisition finance
- Project finance
- Expansion finance
- Capital markets fund
- Liquidity and warehousing
- These products give capital to black-owned and managed enterprises and black entrepreneurs who:
- Buy equity shares in established black and white owned enterprises
- Starting new ventures
- Expanding existing businesses
- BEE businesses that are or want to be listed on the JSE.
4. Strategic Projects fund
This is the centre of the NEF’s investment strategy when it comes to acquiring the involvement of black people in early stage projects. Its main function is to provide venture capital finance aimed at developing new and deliberate industrial capacity within planned sectors acknowledged as key drivers of economic growth.
Contact Information
- Call: 0861 843 633
- Find more information here.
The application process for government funding and grants takes time and the paper work can be tiresome. But here has never been more substantial government funding available than right now. The government funding has more than doubled from R242.6 million in government grants in 2011/2012 to R646.5 million in 2012/2013.
An additional R437 million was given out in grants to over 31 000 small and micro enterprises by the National Empowerment Fund, the National Youth Development Agency and others. A lot of success can be accomplished with the help of government funding and grants.