RIGHT ON THE MONEY
How IDC is trying to create black industrialists
While the IDC is doing a lot to help new entrepreneurs, it still needs to do a lot more to fund businesses in new industries
Thembinkosi Mthembu is a black industrialist. The founder of Mthembu Tissue Converting, he started his career at Nampak as a packer. He later became its converting plant manager and now owns a company that directly employs 18 people. Like the folks behind 100% black-owned furniture manufacturer Fair Price Furnishers — which has created 183 direct jobs — Mthembu received funding from the Industrial Development Corp (IDC), for which creating black industrialists is a strategic imperative. While "black industrialist" may on the face of it seem just another catchphrase to be trotted out, it’s a concept that the continent’s largest development finance institution is taking seriously. It approved R4.7bn in 83 transactions for black industrialists over the year to March — a 63% increase on the prior year and 30% of the R15.3bn in funding approvals that it granted. There are many more examples akin to Mthembu and Fair Price Furnishers. Transmission Worx, a majority black women-owned busines...
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