Detailed description of project Back
The overall objective of the ‘Employment Promotion through SMMEs Support Programme for the Republic of South Africa’12 of which this contract will be a part is as follows:
- To support inclusive and sustainable economic growth and employment creation in South Africa in line with the Government of the Republic of South Africa’s objectives as described in its National Development Plan, notably to reduce the official unemployment rate from around 25% (2013) to 14% (2020).
The specific objectives/outcomes of the SMMEs Programme are:
- Specific Objective 1: to improve the competitiveness of small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) and their ability to meet procurement requirements of large multinational/local corporations, government and state-owned enterprises;
- Specific Objective 2: to improve access to finance for SMMEs with limited/no access to finance;
- Specific Objective 3: to improve the regulatory and administrative environment for SMMEs.
The Key Result Areas (KRAs) of this SMMEs Programme are informed by the KRAs of the Department of Small Business Development’s (DSBD) strategic plan and are as follows:
- KRA 1: Competitiveness of SMMEs, and their ability to meet procurement requirements of large multinational/local corporations, government and state-owned enterprises is improved;
- KRA 2: Access to finance for SMMEs with limited or no access to finance is improved;
- KRA 3: Capacity of relevant government departments/agencies in enhancing the regulatory and administrative environment for SMMEs is strengthened.
The purpose of this contract is to provide the full suite of technical assistance (TA) required for the effective implementation of the ‘Employment Promotion through SMMEs Support Programme for South Africa’ during its operational implementation phase.
Type of services provided
- Provision of business development services (BDS) to SMMEs and co-operatives13 including technical expertise, operational expertise (business, financial management, market access, etc), training and mentorship;
- Provision of TA to SMMEs to assist them in accessing finance as appropriate from sefa and sefa’s wholesale lending partners so as to enhance their sustainability. The targets are SMMEs that receive or are expected to receive financing via sefa and sefa partners under the SMMEs Programme;
- Provision of TA to complement the European Investment Bank’s (EIB’s) loan facility with the Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa (the loan facility has a focus on climate action in the agricultural value chain);
- Provision of capacity-building assistance to sefa aimed at strengthening its internal capacity to lend to SMMEs and, if required, capacity-building of sefa’s wholesale lending partners;
- Capacity-building assistance as appropriate to government departments (ministries) / agencies directly involved in SMMEs development, primarily led by the DSBD, including capacity-building assistance to the Small Enterprise Development Agency (seda). Additionally, this will include support for SMME development initiatives notably related to agri-business value chain development led by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF);
- Programme management support including: supporting the governance of the SMMEs Programme through adequate Secretariat support to the Programme Steering Committee (PSC); and monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the Technical Assistance Programme;
- Development and implementation of an appropriate and effective Communication and Visibility Plan for the SMMEs Programme.
Main staff provided:
- Team Leader and SMME Expert (1.165 w/d);
- Access to Finance Specialist (1.017 w/d);
- Agriculture Development/Agribusiness Linkages (1.145 w/d);
- Business Development Services Expert (1.112 w/d);
- Pool non-key experts (12.829 w/d).
