Applications for the Western Cape Government’s (WCG) 2023 Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) Booster fund, close in one week, on Tuesday 11 July at midnight.
To apply please click on the following link: https://dedat-funding.westerncape.gov.za/#/
Run by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT), this programme has assisted 860 SMMEs since 2019, thereby helping to sustain 4 977 jobs.
In addition to this, the Booster Fund has also helped these SMMEs to grow, creating an additional 651 jobs.
Mireille Wenger, Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities said that one of her top priorities is to support entrepreneurs and SMMEs precisely because they are the driving force behind economic growth and job creation in the Western Cape and South Africa.
This year, the SMME Booster Fund will focus specifically on support projects and programmes aimed at growing and developing SMMEs, in the following categories:. Exporter development. Women-owned businesses. Youth-owned businesses. Township-based businesses
The SMME Booster Fund is just one of the ways the Western Cape Government supports small businesses in the province.
“Overall, the WCG is determined to make the province the easiest place to do business in the country,” said Wenger.
“As a part of achieving this, we have recently adopted a new and ambitious economic plan of action, which we call ‘Growth for Jobs’.
“By 2035, we aim to have built a trillion-rand jobs-rich, inclusive, sustainable, diverse and resilient provincial economy that is growing at between 4 and 6 per cent per year.
“At the heart of this is the understanding that government’s role is to make it as easy as possible for the private sector, especially SMMEs, to grow and create jobs.
“Which is why I urge entrepreneurs and business owners to keep an eye out for the various programmes we run to support SMMEs on our ‘Sector Support’ webpage.
Contact us if they need assistance with cutting red tape, on redtape@westerncape.gov.za.
“By improving the foundations of growth, by supporting SMMEs and by removing barriers to their growth, we can achieve higher growth rates and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs that we need to pull more people out of poverty and into a life of opportunity and hope,” Wenger added.
