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The Black Business Council (BBC) welcomes the announcement by the Minister of Trade, Industry & Economic Development, Ebrahim Patel, during his budget speech that R40 billion will be allocated to the Black Industrialists (BI) Programme. The programme, which is seen as one of the key elements of the broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) and socio-economic transformation, aims to unlock the potential industrialists’ companies in key sectors of the economy through deliberate target and well-defined financial and non-financial interventions.

“The BI programme is a brainchild of the BBC and we believe that the extra funding will bring much-needed relief as well as to attempt to solve the biggest hurdles of our members - access to capital and markets” said BBC CEO, Kganki Matabane

The BBC will work closely with Minister Patel and will take the learnings and  lessons from the initial BI programme in order to improve on enhancing the application process including turnaround times.

“SMMEs are the backbone of any economic growth and this fund will go a long way in addressing the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality.” concluded Matabane.

Issued by The Black Business Council