Friday, July 12, 2019
Trade, Industry and Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel says government will over the next five years invest R40 billion to create an additional 400 black industrialists.
Patel said this when he led a debate on the department’s budget vote on Thursday.
“To enhance the growth of black industrialists, we will combine the efforts of the department, the IDC [Industrial Development Corporation] and the NEF [National Empowerment Fund] into a seamless and coordinated programme.
“Over the next five years, we will support an additional 400 black industrialists projects with financial support of R40 billion, through identifying sustainable businesses and promoting both industrialists, new enterprise formation and worker involvement in the enterprises,” he said.
The Black Industrialists Scheme is the incentive programme of the Black Industrialists Policy, which aims to promote the participation of black industrialists as manufacturers in key sectors of the economy as identified in the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP).
In February, the department told Parliament that the approval of 131 projects of black entrepreneurs leveraged over R13.2 billion of private sector investment, with about 9 500 new jobs created and 8 900 retained in a wide range of manufacturing sub-sectors.
