The Times
*New government agency to promote entrepreneurship* *Paul Vecchiatto, The Times, Johannesburg, 24 April 2012*A new agency aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and job creation will encourage such start up business to be heavily involved in the country's infrastructure development, says Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel.
On Monday Patel announced the creation of the SA Finance Enterprise Agency (SAFEA) that will incorporate three existing small development agencies, namely Khula Enterprises, the SA Microfinance Apex Fund and the small business section of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
The new agency will be a division of the IDC, from which it can obtain system support and use the Corporation's experience in managing a loan book, Patel said.
He said the consolidation of the three agencies would result in a saving of R20 million as duplicate bureaucracies and separate offices would be eliminated.
SAFEA will also use the facilities of the Post Bank to spread its presence throughout the country. The Post Bank is a separate division operating out of the SA Post Office's retail network.
Patel said that any small business could obtain a loan or investment from SAFEA of up to R3 million and that the first approvals would be made in four weeks time.
However, Patel refused to disclose the size of the SAFEA loan book saying that he would state more about it when delivering his department's budget vote speech on Tuesday, April 24.
Patel said the creation of SAFEA was a result of government's New Growth Path economic policy that was adopted in October 2010.
He said a major SAFEA objective was to ensure that a greater proportion of funding that Parliament had voted on reached the companies that needed it.
It would do this through three channels: that of direct loans, loans through intermediate financial institutions and through provincial development finance institutions.
Patel said that small companies were to be encouraged to become more involved in the 17 infrastructure projects identified by the Presidential Infrastructure Coordination Commission.
"We want those companies to not only be involved in the 'hard' infrastructure projects, but also the 'soft' infrastructure development such as skills development and so on," Patel said.
***From: http://www.businesslive.co.za/businessexchange/2012/04/23/new-government-agency-to-promote-entrepreneurship*
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