Development finance and SMME support

Craft designers are preparing for US markets

The Cape Town US Consulate General office is sponsoring an initiative to help creative businesses approach the US market.

More than 80 Western and Eastern Cape businesses were exposed to a week-long programme of information sharing and networking in 2021 when the Craft and Design Institute (CDI) partnered with Aid To Artisans (ATA) to roll out the e-Market Readiness Programme (eMRP).

On the programme, entrepreneurs learn about trends and the requirements of the US market through direct engagement with industry experts and retail buyers. For 10 selected businesses there is a five-month Business Intensive process.

Jehan Jones-Radgowski, Acting Public Affairs Officer at the US Consulate, says, “The Expanding to Export Market Access Programme will prepare South-Africanbased entrepreneurs in the creative sector to enter the US handmade retail market.” Among the participants were Kingsdale Emporio and Dimzique Jewellery.

Two of the Western Cape’s universities, Stellenbosch and Cape Town, are among the first collaborators with the University Technology Fund which aims to commercialise innovations and inventions coming out of tertiary institutions. The UTF has financial clout as it is a part of the South African SME Fund, an offshoot of the CEO Initiative which brought together 50 major corporations, the Public Investment Corporation, the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Compensation Commission.

Among the businesses receiving support from the SA SME Fund are Masisizane which helps black entrepreneurs buy petrol stations and Hyrax, a company which emerged from research done at the University of the Western Cape into which HIV-positive people were resistant to certain drugs.

The National Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has several programmes to assist SMMEs and cooperatives. The Small Enterprise Development Agency is an agency of the DSBD and gives non-financial support to entrepreneurs through training, assistance with filling in forms, marketing and creating business plans.

Seda runs a Rapid Incubator in partnership with the Centre for Entrepreneurship (CFE) at False Bay TVET College, Westlake Campus.

Many startups find the cost of finding and hiring premises prohibitive. Flexible working spaces such as those offered by Workshop17 offer a solution. The company has sites in Paarl, the Gardens and at the Watershed at the V&A Waterfront. ■

ONLINE RESOURCES

Craft and Design Institute: www.thecdi.org.za SA SME Fund: sasmefund.co.za Small Enterprise Development Agency: www.seda.co.za Small Enterprise Finance Agency: www.sefa.org.za SECTOR INSIGHT University student’s bright ideas are getting business funding.

Credit: Dimzique Jewellery