Some optimism over dti funds

With a flood of applicants having
gobbled up all the original R5-billion
funding, the manufacturing
competitiveness enhancement
programme (mcep) has slammed its
door on any further applications till next
year.
The department of trade and industry
(dti) will continue to honour all approved
applications, and a new application
window will be opened in April 2016 –
but only “pending availability of funds”.
And although that’s a bit dubious,
Peggy Drodskie, chief operating officer
of the SA Chamber of Commerce &
Industry (Sacci), has a hunch that
something will be made available.
“The minister of finance in his minibudget
sounded pessimistic about the
availability of such funding,” she told
FTW. “But it is my gut feeling that
something will become available.”
This, she added, because people
who went into manufacturing tended
to have a higher level of commitment
than in a normal business operation.
And the funding allows for expansion
– an area where Drodskie is sure a lot
of the funding has gone.
The dti also launched the programme
at an appropriate time, with mcep –
designed as an incentive to support
enterprises in the production sectors of
the economy – appearing soon after the
onset of the global economic recession.
And, it added, allowing manufacturers
“to weather very adverse market
conditions and secure higher levels of
investment”.
Drodskie also felt that the nonprofit
body, the Manufacturing Circle,
played a distinct role in promoting
this valuable mcep funding. Formed
in 2008, the Manufacturing Circle is
made up of a number of SA’s leading
medium to large manufacturing
companies from a wide range of
industries. It interacts with government
and other stakeholders in order to
review, debate and help formulate
policies that will have a positive impact
on SA’s manufacturing base.
To date, the dti has dispensed
funding to 1 153 entities which were
looking to acquire capital equipment
and reengineer their business processes.
That works out at an average funding
level of R4.34m.