FINANCIAL SUPPORT SUB-UNIT
The Financial Support Department of Enterprise Development Finance Program (EDFD) administer loans to SMMEs and Cooperatives operating in Limpopo. Product offerings thereof range from procurement (bridging finance) loans, working capital, assets and franchise finance. The loans granted vary in terms of LEDA’s product offering and the periods within which the loan should be repaid. During the financial years 2019-202 LEDA managed to administer loans amounting to R49.2m against the target of R40m. In the previous year only R34.5m was disbursed. The target was to offer loans to 100 Limpopo based entrepreneurs but this was surpassed by 52 more entrepreneurs, thanks to the improved collection techniques currently being applied. It is a matter of pride to mention that LEDA’s EDFD is collecting at more than 95% on the current active book. However, a lot has to be done to improve the current collection rate.
BUSINESS SUPPORT SUB-UNIT
Township and rural Enterprise Programme
LEDA is implementing the rural and township industrial economy through provision of various non-financial support programs ranging from Business Incubation, Incentivising Rural and Township Enterprises, provision of business registration facilities, etc.
BUSINESS INCUBATION PROGRAMME
LEDA incubated a total of 204 SMMEs across various economic sectors during the 2019-2020 financial years. The LEDA Business Incubation programme is an instrument that the organization uses to enhance and improve business processes and compliance amongst small enterprises. Over and above this, the target of placing 250 learners with various employers was exceeded by 432 more learners placed on experiential learning. In order to encourage youth, women and people living with disabilities to participate in the mainstream economy, LEDA’s EDFD in collaboration with LEDET offered incentives worth R10 000 to each enterprise as follows:
This is in line with Agenda 2030 of ‘leaving no one behind’. We are pleased to report that some of our supported enterprises are beginning to show signs of commercial viability and some are supplying major national retail stores e.g. NTK, Tiger Brand, Spar, etc.
BUSINESS REGISTRATION THROUGH COMPANIES AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY COMMISSION (CIPC)
LEDA has signed a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission (CIPC) for the establishment of a Self Service Terminal Center in almost all LEDA branch offices in Limpopo to provide online business registration. The aim of this facility is to provide the following services:
It takes less than ten minutes to register and receive a company’s registration documents, BBBEE certificates and SARS Tax reference number. To this end a total of 14 414 SMMEs were assisted to access some of the above-mentioned services during the 2019/20 financial year.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT UNIT SUB UNIT
The Training and Development Division‘s primary objective is to increase technical and business skills within communities in Limpopo. The division is composed of Business Training and Technical Training. It has four technical Training Centres based in:
- Seshego
- Lwamondo
- Ritavi (Nkowankowa)
- Giyani
The unit trained 4 991 entrepreneurs in various business skills and 3 271 learners in various technical skills programs during 2019-2020 financial year. The sub-division managed to place 682 learners with placement opportunities in various organisations as part of their 70% practical training of the LEDA/UIF Learner ship project. Furthermore, a total of 41 learners were trained to enhance their driving skills during the period under review.
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