SME Funding Opportunities For South African Youth
SME funding opportunities for South African youth. Are you a young entrepreneur with a business idea. Do you have the creativity but don’t have access to funding. Here is a list of funding opportunities available for the youth:
Youth Micro Enterprise Relief Fund (All)
The NYDA in an effort to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 will provide a Relief Fund to youth-owned enterprises for a period of three months.
Eligibility:
- The youth owned enterprise must have been existing and operating for a period of six (6) months prior to the lockdown. Proof of this must be submitted in a form of management accounts (i.e. invoices, orders, etc.)
- The youth owned enterprises must be able to provide financial statement for three (3) months before the lockdown and statements during the lockdown.
- The youth owned enterprise must submit CIPC registration documents except for informal businesses
- The youth owned enterprise must provide proof of banking details that is not older than six (6) months
- Demonstrate how the enterprise has been impacted by COVID-19
- The relief fund will cover operational costs only
- The relief fund will be capped at a maximum of R10,000.00 per youth owned enterprise and this will be a once-off amount
- The application period is from 20 April up to 30 May 2020
Download an application form HERE.
Thusano Fund (Students, NGOs)
The National Youth Development Agency allocates an annual budget to the Thusano Fund; the fund functions over and above the organisations’ sponsorship and is aimed at assisting small scale, immediate necessities.
Eligibility:
The Thusano Fund will consider the following applications:
– Requests up to and including R50,000 per candidate or organisation
– Individuals requiring funds to settle overdue tertiary or school fees
– Individuals aiming to pursue short courses
– NGOs requiring once off financial support
– NGOs in need of equipment
– Events for social development or awareness
Documentation needed for students:
– Thusano Fund Application Form
– Motivation or application letter stating the financial need
– Academic Record not less than three months or acceptance letter
– ID Copy (3 months)
– Proof of income for guardian or parents (for academic purposes)
– Affidavit
– Invoice or quotation from the institution of choice
For NGOs:
– Thusano Fund Application Form
– Motivation or application letter stating the financial need
– Constitution of the organisation
– Certified ID Copy (3 months)
– Proposal with financials
– Tax exemption compliance
– NPO/NGO registration documents (certificate)
All applications must be sent via email to [email protected].
Youth Development Agency (NYDA) Grant Programme (ALL)
The NYDA Grant Programme aims to provide young entrepreneurs with an opportunity to access both financial and non- financial business development support in order to enable them to establish or grow their businesses.
The grant can be used for the following:
– To purchase movable and immovable assets
– Bridging finance
– Shop renovations
– Working capital paid directly to the grantee
– Co-funding with legal entities only
Grants will be granted to individuals, co-operatives and community development facilitation projects.
Eligibility :
To access the NYDA Grant Programme, you can:
– Contact the NYDA call centre on 0800 52 52 52.
– Visit your nearest NYDA branch.
– Download the application form
-Between the age 18-35 years
– Youth with skills, experience or; with the potential skill, appropriate for the enterprise that they conduct or intend to conduct.
– Require a grant from NYDA of not less than R1,000.00 and not more than R200,000.00 (for cooperatives the maximum threshold is R250,000) for individuals and companies. [For agriculture and technology related projects the maximum threshold is R250,000.]
Youth Pipeline Development Programme
According to Finfind, the Youth Pipeline Development Programme is an IDC Special Scheme business support and grant funding programme that assists potential applicants to improve the readiness of their proposal, and thereby increase their probability for IDC consideration. The fund size of this programme is R50-million
Eligibility:
Sectors the programme will fund:
– Agro-processing and agriculture.
– Automotive and transport equipment.
– Basic metal and mining.
– Basic and speciality chemicals.
– Chemical products and pharmaceuticals.
– Clothing and textiles.
– Heavy manufacturing.
– Industrial infrastructure.
– Light manufacturing and tourism.
– Machinery and capital equipment.
– Media and motion pictures.
– New industries.
Note the following:
– Loan or grant is available to youth-owned businesses (irrespective of whether it qualifies for Gro-E Youth or not);
– Application must meet IDC sector and funding limits;
– Applicant can be start-up or expansion;
African-German Youth Initiative Innovation Fund (All)
The German Federal Government together with the African Union Commission launched the call for project proposals under the African-German Youth Initiative (AGYI) Innovation Fund. The aim is to improve and innovate youth exchange and mobility between African countries and Germany and, also, skills development. The budget for proposals should be between EUR 2.000 to EUR 12.000 and the implementation period should not exceed five months.
Eligibility:
– For field 1 of the fund, applicants should be between 14 – 35 years old, but for the other fields there are no age restrictions.
– Applicants should be registered as a non-profit organisation in Benin, Togo, Ghana, South Africa or Tanzania. There is an option for non-registered youth groups to apply through a parent organisation.
Applications close in February every year.
Gro-E Youth Scheme (GREEN)
The aim of the R950-million fund scheme is to provide finance to renewable energy and energy efficiency projects of smaller scale and manufacturing of Green products in South Africa.
Eligibility:
The funding is available to South Africans and permanent residents up to and inclusive of the age of 35 years at the time of final approval.
The criteria for the application includes:
– Youth shareholding should be at least 26%;
– Youth operational involvement in the business;
– Applicant can be a start-up or expansion within South Africa;
– Cost per job of up to R750 000 for the duration of funding – calculated using total project cost;
– Applicant to meet the BBBEE requirements of the IDC – level 4 or have a plan to achieve this within 24 months; and
– Own contribution will be determined by the financial capacity of the entrepreneur and the cash flow profile of the business.
