empowering them?
Well it is interesting to note that both government and companies
offer loans to women who want to start businesses. Great - let's get
on with it!
GOVERNMENT
Most loans for business come through the department of trade and
industry (the dti) and its associated organisations, such as the Small
Enterprise Development Agency. These loans tend to offer lower
interest rates than those from financial institutions, and have longer
and/or more flexible repayment terms.
The Isivande Women's Fund is exclusively available for women. It was
established by the dti to accelerate the economic empowerment of women
through affordable, usable and responsible finance. For more
information, visit thedti.gov.za.
Khula is the government's agency for small business finance. It
operates across both public and private sectors and is dedicated to
providing much-needed funding to businesses. It offers indemnity to
financial institutions that provide loans to businesses without assets
to put up as collateral. Visit sefa.org.za for more information.
The National Youth Development Agency offers mentorship, development
programmes and grants, and facilitates funding for youth businesses.
Visit nyda.gov.za for more information.
The National Empowerment Fund was established by the National
Empowerment Fund Act No 105 of 1998 to promote and facilitate black
economic equality and transformation.
PRIVATE
Absa has a Women Empowerment Fund, with the criteria for eligibility
being that you must be a South African woman permanently residing in
South Africa and your business must be a small to medium-sized
enterprise, as defined by the dti. This includes start-ups, existing
businesses, franchises and businesses switching from other banks.
Crowdfunding is a way of raising capital in small amounts from a large
group of people, using the internet and social-media sites. For an
entrepreneur in need of finance, crowdfunding – also known as
crowdsource capital – has radically expanded the pool of potential
investors for people who might otherwise not be noticed.
Wathinth' umfazi, wathinth' imbokodo. Go out there and make things happen.
