Development finance and SMME support

Local businesses are thriving in support of mining.

Opportunities for building and civil engineering contracts are hard to come by in Danielskuil, population 13 597. The tiny town, which lies north-west of Kimberley, falls within an area rich in mining and for father and son Paul and Marvin Oss, that spelt opportunity.

With access to work at Kolomela Mine through Kumba Iron Ore’s inclusive procurement project, P&E Artisans (pictured) now has a staff complement of 35 with plans to grow to 100 in five years. Work on the mine included making brackets and erecting steel structures. In 2017 Kumba Iron Ore spent R36-billion through its inclusive procurement and enterprise development initiatives. The province’s biggest new mine, the Vedanta Zinc International mine at Aggeneys, spends generously on corporate social responsibility, of which supplier development forms a large part. Some 45 black-owned businesses have so far been supported on the project, with the 12 new businesses created having tripled in value since 2015.

The Provincial Government of the Northern Cape is focussed on two sectors for SMMEs, agriculture and tourism. The intention is to link 80 young agricultural graduates for in-service training with commercial operations for two years. These young people would then be expected to start small businesses. Tourism is seen as a sector where the barriers to entry are low, and the growth of options in the heritage tourism sector should provide further opportunities for small operators to begin or grow their businesses.

SMMEs will be catered for in the planned Kathu Industrial Park which is being supported by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and companies in the mining sector. The focus of the park will be metals. The park’s infrastructure will enable smaller companies to be

Online Resources

Department of Small Business Development: www.dsbd.gov.za Industrial Development Corporation: www.idc.co.za Northern Cape Economic Development Agency: www.nceda.co.za Small Enterprise Development Agency: www.seda.org.za Sector Insight Agriculture and tourism are good sectors for SMME growth.

in a position to tender for supply contracts to mines.

The Industrial Development Corporation is one of the biggest development finance operators in the Northern Cape. As part of national government’s renewable energy programme which aims to get private investors into the sector, the IDC has approved funds for 12 renewable energy projects in the province, including Abengoa’s Khi Solar One concentrated solar power farm near Upington and the Kakamas Hydro-Electric Power plant on the Orange River.

The Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) is a partner in the Kimberley incubation hub related to the Kimberley International Diamond and Jewellery Academy. The Kimberley Diamond and Jewellery Incubator (KIDJA) helps establish SMMEs, supports existing business and trains students. There are six Seda branches in the province and a satellite office of the Seda unit known as the Zenzele Technology Demonstration Centre, offering technical and research support to small-scale mining and mineralrelated enterprises. ■