REVIEW
COVA ADVISORY AND ASSOCIATES KEEPING UP TO DATE
Providing crucial advice to the automotive industry as well as others, on government programmes, grants and tax incentives, development finance and the carbon and energy services, Cora Advisory and Associates have quickly grown to be one of the most respected and trusted leaders in its field.
Cova continually monitors the landscape to understand the progression and direction of the industry and to determine what clients will need as sectors and businesses evolve.
Established in 2013 by Duane Newman and Tumelo Chipfupa, Cova’s growth in the years following the start of the company has been nothing sort of exponential. To put it into perspective, they began with a team of four people and now have twenty seven highly qualified professionals including chartered accountants, engineers and lawyers across a pair of offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
THE COMPANY A company with a level 2 B-BBEE and a member of NAACAM (National Association of Automotive Components Manufacturers) Cova has the largest dedicated incentives advisory team in South Africa, many of which gained expertise working for other heavy hitters before joining their company. For example, team members have come from South Africa’s top four audit firms and the Department of Trade and Industry. Their founders are director Duane Newman and Mr. Tumelo Chipfupa. Highly successful businessmen in their own right, Mr. Newman is currently the Chairman of the Incentive Consultants Association and the Incentives Committee of SAIT and Mr. Chipfupa, successfully managed the DTI’s incentive division for a decade as Deputy Director General. Their leadership has led to Cova being one of only six organisations accredited by SANAS to perform the baseline Measurement & Verification required to unlock the Section 12L Tax Allowance incentive. Additionally, drawing on the team’s forty years of combined experience in their fields, Cova has assisted companies to access over R1 billion, in grants and incentives!
As National Business Development Manager, Grant Whittaker explains, “Many of our clients are leaders in their industries and we are privy to many top secret research and development projects that are linked to the fourth industrial revolution. One of the areas that we assist clients is that we help them access government funding for some of their R&D projects.” Grant explains that as a business they hold annual strategy sessions where the team analyse the data from the past year and brainstorm ideas and new ways to improve their service and retain their leadership in their industry. “Our competitive advantage is agility,” he says, “We are smaller than the large audit and advisory firms yet big enough to have the knowledge and expertise to provide a solution for the client. The difference often is work ethic.”
2020 According to Grant, many companies in South Africa are in denial about the Carbon Tax while
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