SERVICES
The Eastern Cape provincial government, through
its Department of Economic Development,
Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT),
offers a number of services that help:
1. Promote the creation of jobs in the province
2. Manage and protect the natural environment.
BUSINESS SUPPORT
The Department provides MSME business support through its implementing agency, the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC). The nature of this assistance is non-financial pre-investment and post-investment support.
It is provided by the Department to help Eastern Cape MSME owners improve how they run businesses and improve MSME’s survival rate, sustainability, and growth prospects.
These include:
- Business advisory support services and business counselling
- Business plan development
- Feasibility studies
- Due diligence
- Mentorship and coaching
- Quality management support
- Marketing support
- Intellectual property registration support and management
- Development of pre-commercialisation studies (where applicable)
- Skills development training
- Information workshops and seminars.
Business assistance, in various forms, is integral to the ECDC’s Development Finance and Business Support services. Similarly, small business support, in various forms, is provided by DEDEAT and all its entities.
Also see:
- Trade and Investment Promotion: For businesses that aspire to export to markets beyond South Africa
- Various funds: Imvaba Co-operative Fund; Jobs Stimulus Fund; Local and Regional Development Fund and Risk Capital Fund
- MSME financing.
Specialised business sector support
The Eastern Cape government has prioritised six sectors to build and expand the provincial economy:
- Agri-industry
- Automotive
- Sustainable energy
- Oceans economy
- Light manufacturing
- Tourism.
Sector managers have been appointed at the Department’s head office to grow these sectors through various tools including policy.
In addition, sector specialists at various entities, the ECDC, Coega, and the East London IDZ, assist clients or potential investors in these sectors with important services that aid the investment process and investor operations.
As part of these efforts, the Department has also partnered with sector organisations to support the development of the priority sectors.
It includes various entities, incubators, or clusters that assist specific industries:
- Agro-Industry Manufacturing Cluster
(AIM) builds relations among the players for improved sector efficiencies by creating linkages to develop local value chains.
- AIDC Eastern Cape for automotive support.
- CHEMIN, chemical incubator.
Chemin is the country’s technology incubator that is dedicated to supporting the growth and sustainability of technology-based businesses in the chemical sector.
- The Eastern Cape manufacturing hub is being established at the East London IDZ.
THE DEPARTMENT IS ALSO IMPLEMENTING VARIOUS PROGRAMMES TO BOOST THE PROSPECTS OF TOWNSHIP AND RURAL ECONOMIES.
Trade and investment promotion
The province’s trade promotion activities are led by DEDEAT’s implementing agency, the Eastern Cape Development Corporation, which has wide-ranging access to foreign trade destinations through preferential trade agreements at a regional and bilateral level.
The services provided to export-ready businesses include:
- Help companies assess and evaluate their ability to service international markets (export readiness assessment analysis)
- Assist Eastern Cape-based companies in accessing national export incentive programmes offered by the Department of Trade and Industry Competition (dtic), Export Marketing and Investment Assistance (EMIA) and Sector Specific Assistance Scheme (SSAS)
- Provide opportunities to be part of national and provincial international trade missions
- Advise and assist with marketing products to prospective regional and international buyers
- Provide regional networking opportunities
- Provide international networking opportunities in overseas markets
- Provide linkages to prospective international business partners and investors.
These services are provided in cooperation with the dtic.
Supply chain management opportunities
The supply chain management of the Department and entities support the procurement of goods and services from all South Africans with the requisite skills. However, DEDEAT and its entities in particular support black-owned businesses including youth and women-owned businesses.
FUNDING/FINANCING
Imvaba Co-operative Fund
The fund promotes the viability of co-operative enterprises in the Eastern Cape. It serves as a revolving fund for supporting primary co-operatives in the manufacturing and services sectors.
Local, Regional & Economic Development (LRED)Fund
The LRED Fund seeks to provide grant funding to enterprises that are unable to access funding from commercial banks and other developmental funding institutions to start up new enterprises or expand existing enterprises.
The fund encourages new sources of economic activity in small towns, townships, and villages, for example, and supports job creation.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LRED IS AVAILABLE HERE AND FROM DEDEAT’S REGIONAL OFFICES.
DEDEAT through its entity, the Eastern Cape Development Corporation offers short and long-term finance to qualifying businesses.
SHORT-TERM FINANCE
ECDC Access, the category name for short-term finance, offers products to facilitate efficient cash flow management of clients’ businesses:
- NEXUS – Trade loan
- WORKflow – Contractor loan
- POWERplus – Small loan.
LONG-TERM FINANCE
ECDC Future, the long-term finance category, offers long-term debt finance vehicles.
These include the TERMcap loan and an equity finance vehicle, EQUItrader.
The long-term finance offering represents ECDC’s earnest quest for business sustainability, cutting-edge innovation, freshness, and vision in the economy of the Eastern Cape:
- TERMcap – Loan including commercial property finance
- EQUItrader – Equity finance.
The ECDC has established a pilot Risk Capital Fund (RCF) programme to promote the development of innovative business ideas/concepts that support the growth of the Eastern Cape economy, contribute to the creation of sustainable jobs, and contribute toward the competitiveness of the province.
Depending on the needs of the enterprise and its stage of development, the ECDC’s funding can be in the form of equity, loan, or blended equity–loan offer.
The fund considers high-impact projects and develops preliminary studies, and technical and commercial plans, before project/business takeoff (not limited to feasibility studies, business plans, and market testing, for example).
INVESTOR SERVICES
InvestSA One Stop Shop Eastern Cape
The InvestSA One Stop Shop Eastern Cape initiative provides investors with services to reduce the government’s red tape when establishing a business.
The ECDC is the provincial One Stop Shop operator, which streamlines the investment value chain for medium to large companies looking to invest in South Africa, making it easier and faster to invest in the province.
The centre provides services in six areas:
INFORMATION SERVICES
Information and network opportunities on trade and investment in the Eastern Cape, South Africa and Africa.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Includes intellectual property protection, applications for national and local incentives, and applications for work visas.
REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
Temporary and permanent residence, registration for tax purposes, and any other requirements (licenses, authorisations and registrations, for example) to do business in the Eastern Cape.
LEADING TRACKING
A lead tracking system to ensure that prospective investors receive quality services until their respective projects reach the point of commercialisation
PRE-APPROVAL INFORMATION
The provision of pre-approval information to investors (market data, costs, incentives, project approval, visits, and local partners, for example)
FACILITATION SERVICES
The provision of facilitation services to investors (permits, approvals, import equipment, raw materials, and work permits, for example).
PRE-APPROVAL INFORMATION
The provision of pre-approval information to investors (market data, costs, incentives, project approval, visits, and local partners, for example)
FACILITATION SERVICES
The provision of facilitation services to investors (permits, approvals, import equipment, raw materials, and work permits, for example).
The centre hosts relevant government departments and state-owned entities to help investors and exporters negotiate the regulations and administration to obtain various approvals, licences, authorisations, registrations and/or permits.
The SEZs at Coega and in East London offer a range of world-class investor and other services.
Services differ from SEZ to SEZ and include:
- Facilities and estate management
- Safety, health, environment, and quality
- Commercial services
- Customs and control area
- Relief from customs duties and VAT trade services
- Logistics.
The Department, through the ECDC, offers three core services to micro, small and medium enterprises or labour-intensive entities.
These services include:
• Facilitating commercial and industrial activity
• Assisting new investors who may be looking for suitable premises
• Facilitating MSME development, particularly in underdeveloped areas.
Other programmes include:
• Project management
• Asset management
• Facilities management
• Leasehold.
SOCIAL AWARENESS
DEDEAT and its related entities run awareness campaigns on a range of
services to help educate citizens on a variety of issues ranging from
preventing alcohol addiction to celebrating various environmental
issues and other days of national and international interest or focus.
REGULATORY SERVICES
Gambling licensing
DEDEAT, through the Eastern Cape Gambling Board, is responsible for regulating the gambling industry. Consequently, it is responsible for issuing all licenses related to this industry.
Office of the Consumer Protector
Citizens unhappy with services received from businesses in the Eastern Cape or require consumer information can use the Consumer Protector hotline to register a formal complaint or source more information.
The Office of the Consumer Protector’s two primary services are:
- Consumer education and awareness
- Consumer complaints.
For more information, contact the office on the hotline (telephone) 08000 7255 or (email) consumer.protector@dedea.gov.za.