Dti ramps up incentives for small business

The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) has significantly ramped up grant incentives to small businesses in the last year to help these firms acquire new technology and machinery, and to put in place various measures to help them improve their competitiveness and grow employment. Briefing the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on trade and industry, Tumelo Chipfupa, the department’s Deputy Director-General of The Enterprise Organisation, said grant approvals under the Black Business Supplier Development Programme (BBSDP) had increased fourfold over 2011/12. Approvals moved from 306, valued at R96.6 million in 2011/12, to 1 213, valued at R451.2 million in 2012/13. The BBSDP provides cost-sharing grants to black-owned small enterprises for technology and business support services. In addition, the number of grants approved under the Co-operative Incentive Scheme (CIS) increased by more than 70% to 182 approvals valued at R85 million, while grants under the Export Marketing and Investment Assistance (Emia) scheme increased by 17% to 1 018, valued at R70 million. The CIS provides cost-sharing grants to co-operatives to purchase equipment or carry out enterprise support, while Emia assists businesses to attend national pavilions, trade missions and trade shows. The department spent about R100 million in 2012/13 assisting over 1 000 enterprises to attend 22 national pavilions, 43 trade missions and eight trade initiatives and special projects, which assisted these firms to generate sales of R3.8 billion. Chipfupa said the department had been able to ramp up lending through the BBSDP through the appointment of key partner organisations in provinces. In all, 409 of the 1 213 BBSDP grants in 2012/13 went to women-owned enterprises and Chipfupa said the department was considering ring-fencing some of the grant funding for women and youth-owned enterprises. The department administers about 15 incentives aimed largely at improving industrialisation and broadening economic participation.