Empowerment fund ‘at critical point’ amid surge of requests from black businesses
The National Empowerment Fund (NEF) is confident that it will soon secure much-needed capitalisation of R500m from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) as soon as the Cabinet grants its approval and the Treasury clears its application for limited borrowing rights under the Public Finance Management Act. The government decided in 2017 that the NEF would be incorporated under the IDC as a subsidiary. The IDC board then approved a facility of R500m in March 2017 subject to Cabinet approval and Treasury clearance of its borrowing rights. NEF CEO Philisiwe Mthethwa said in a statement on Tuesday said the NEF was confident it would soon obtain Cabinet approval. She said the NEF had now reached a critical point where its funding mandate required urgent recapitalisation for it to be able to respond to the "overwhelming demand" for funding by black entrepreneurs across the country. "The recapitalisation of the NEF will also help propel the full commercialisation of all the 26 strate...
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