The process of industrialisation must be underpinned by transformation. Through measures like preferential procurement and the black industrialists programme, we are developing a new generation of black and women producers that are able to build enterprises of signifi cant scale and capability. We will improve our capacity to support black professionals, deal decisively with companies that resist transformation, use competition policy to open markets up to new black entrants, and invest in the development of businesses in townships and rural areas. Radical economic transformation requires that we fundamentally improve the position of black women and communities in the economy, ensuring that they are owners, managers, producers and financiers.”
State of the Nation Address by the President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, 16 February 2018
The NEF’s role is to support Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE).
As the debate concerning what constitutes meaningful and sustainable B-BBEE evolves, the NEF anticipates future funding and investment requirements to help black individuals, communities and businesses achieve each element of the Codes of Good Practice. These include a focus on preferential procurement, broadening the reach of black equity ownership, transformation in management and staff and preventing the dilution of black shareholding.
The NEF differentiates itself not only with a focused mandate for B-BBEE but by also assuming a predominantly equity-based risk to maximise the Empowerment Dividend. The reward should balance the risk with the application of sound commercial decisions to support national priorities and government policy such as the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) or targeted investments through the Department of Trade and Industry’s (the dtic’s) Industrial Policy Framework (IPF).
The work of the NEF, therefore, straddles and complements other Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) by allowing the organisations to work in close collaboration in the promotion of B-BBEE. With them, the NEF can enhance other DFIs and their mandates by sharing its specialist sector expertise and knowledge of B-BBEE.
