26/02/2018
As mentioned by Finance Minster Malusi Gigaba in the 2018 National Budget Speech delivered last week, the expansion of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) can help transform the economy. He stressed in his speech that SMMEs employ 47% of the workforce, contribute more than 20% of GDP and pay about 6% of corporate taxes.
Simon Leps, CEO of XPRS Capital Africa, says that due to the vital role that SMMEs play in the economy, the commitment made by Government to improve the operating environment for SMMEs is still insufficient. “An example of this is the enterprise development fund of R2.1 billion - announced in the 2017 MTBPS – only coming into operation in 2019/20.
“Over the past few years it has become very trying for entrepreneurs and business owners to obtain funding. The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) SMEs Insights Report published in 2015 revealed that the greatest obstacle to the successful operation of sustainable and profitable SMEs is inadequate access to finance. Lack of funding and stringent lending regulations hinders SME growth and development and ultimately hamper growth of the sector. This is very worrying when one considers that SMEs employ a hefty percentage of the country’s workforce.”
A lot more needs to be done to support SME's in South Africa and this would need to come from the private sector as, with all the good intentions in the world, the government is not able to move fast enough to effect the change that is needed in today's environment.