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South Africa: Gijima KZN Spending Hits Record High
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BuaNews (Tshwane)
5 May 2008
Posted to the web 5 May 2008
Bathandwa Mbola
Durban
The KwaZulu-Natal Gijima development initiative - meant to stimulate economic activity in the province has reported paying out its largest batch of funding for any quarter to date since its inception in 2003.
Over R12 million has been disbursed to successful grant beneficiaries during the period October to December 2007, Programme Manager, Ranveer Persad indicated.
The average per quarter has been about R7 million.
To date grants to the total value of just under R140 million have been awarded through Gijima KZN's two main funds namely the Local Competitiveness Fund (LCF) and the Business Enabling Fund (BEF).
By the end of March 2008, approximately 45 percent of this funding had already been paid to beneficiaries.
Mr Persad said that these investments would go a long way towards realising Gijima KZN's goal of attracting financial investment for sustainable economic development in the province.
Gijima KZN is aimed at creating an enabling environment by expanding business activity to all parts of the province, particularly in rural areas.
"Gijima KZN assesses and selects projects on the basis of their potential to provide sustainable growth, generate employment and assist in poverty alleviation in KZN," he said, adding that coupled with the counter funding financial partners, the project has seen numerous successes by providing assistance to projects across the province.
These include socio-economic boosters such as tourism, clothing and textiles, crafts, wood products, logistics and communications technology.
A number of grant beneficiaries across these sectors are beginning to reap the rewards of the grants.
One such project is Muthi Futhi, an innovative agricultural co-operative in the Uthungulu district which focuses on the cultivation, processing, packaging and marketing of medicinal plants.
Project Manager Isaac Banda said Gijima KZN granted a generous R3.3 million towards Muthi Futhi.
"Thus far, Muthi Futhi has formed a trust and project steering committee in accordance with Gijima KZN's early requirements.
"We have received the first tranche of funding and are extremely grateful for this as it will allow us to create 40 direct jobs in the Edakeni, Eshowe area once our project gets underway," he said.
Another project, African Image Pipeline, a project of Africa Media Online (Pty) Ltd in Msunduzi, has also benefited from the strategic collaboration between Gijima KZN and its financial partners.
The company recently received a funding boost of R3.8 million from Gijima KZN which will further enable it to gather, market, licence and deliver digital pictures.
These pictures are sourced from South African photographers, museums and organisational archives, and are delivered to global media markets such as magazines, newspapers, books, websites and broadcasters.
Director David Larsen said the funding would assist in upgrading and broadening the company's systems to achieve its vision of enabling Africans to tell Africa's story in the world media.
Gijima KZN funding has also breathed new life into a former agri milling operation at Dannhauser near Newcastle, where 25 retrenched workers have been able to turn a mill which closed into a small profitable business.
Crosswind Business Projects serves the surrounding community with a variety of products, including its own maize meal and samp brand called Inkululeko (freedom in Zulu.)
Project Manager Wim Botes, said it took passion and vision two years ago to convince 25 of his fellow workers to take over the closed mill.
"We had to start from scratch, with just about no cash flow. It was very hard, but our big break came in December 2007 when a Gijima KZN grant of R3.8 million was approved towards our R5.5 million project," he said.
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With two tranches of funding now received from Gijima KZN and a further R1.7 million sourced from his bank, Mr Botes and his team are well on their way to creating an additional 35 direct jobs and 300 indirect jobs.
The Gijima KZN programme is a European Union initiative and aspires to reduce unemployment, and reduce the number of households earning less than R800.
Since its inception in 2003, the organisation has played a pivotal role in supporting pro-poor LED in the province as part of the government's campaign to eradicate poverty in the province.
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