Ed Richardson GOVERNMENT HAS created a R10-billion war-chest to fund black economic empowerment over the next five years. Finance minister Trevor Manuel says the money will support the funding of new ventures and business expansions that meet agreed empowerment criteria. The fund will in part be financed from the extraordinary proceeds of new exchange control measures. A new mandate for the National Empowerment Fund, and a review of the roles of other development finance and support institutions, to ensure that these resources are effectively and efficiently employed, will be developed by the National Treasury and Department of Trade and Industry.
