If you are financially stuck and confused about how to acquire funds to either start up your business or expand it, then you need to apply for IDC funding immediately. There are so many types of Industrial Development Corporation funds which one can acquire, thereby increasing the financial opportunities of an individual and their business.

To ensure you get the IDC funds, an individual must ensure they meet all the qualifying criteria stipulated in the Industrial Development Corporation website.

IDC funding

IDC refers to the Industrial Development Corporation. The IDC of South Africa is a self-financing national development agency, which aims at promoting the economic development of its citizens. To make this happen, the financial institution focuses on the development through financially empowering the South Africa residents, maintaining sustainable economic growth in the continent, and providing funds that lead to the generation of the balanced.

IDC funds are available to individuals who have an already set up business or to those who wish to start a new business venture. To achieve the goals the financial institution has set, IDC provides finances for industrial projects and promotes partnerships between and across industrial companies within South Africa and outside the Africa continent. The IDC much supports B-BBEE, and actively engages itself in supporting businesses owned and managed by the blacks in South Africa.

It is the hope of Industrial Development Corporation of sharpening the skills of black employees and black entrepreneurs, by supporting local, regional, provincial, and national government plans.

Types of IDC funding

There are various types of IDC funding. One of them is the Development Funds. The sole focus of the Development Funds is to support the projects which are believed to have a long-term impact of the country’s economy through growth. These types of IDC funding try to bring such projects out of the informal sector and into the mainstream of the economy. The other kind of IDC funding is the Product Process Development Scheme (PPD).

PPD aims at providing financial security to small and micro businesses which have a total asset of R5 million and below. Similarly, the small and micro businesses must have an annual turnover that is below R13 million, and a staff base of fewer than 50 employees. It goes to mean that a company which has more than 50 employees, has an annual turnover of more than R13 million, and a total asset of R5 million is not liable to acquire the Product Process Development Scheme funds.

For those companies that acquire the PPD funds, their sole intention should be to promote innovation, and technology development using the financial support they have received. The PPD funds allow the businesses to come up with new products, or to develop new and more practical processes. Agro-Processing Competitiveness Funds are also another type of this funding.

These types of government funding provide the financial support to businesses that aim at acquiring competitive advantage in the market, business growth, to create job opportunities, or to develop the agro-processing and beverage industries. Risk Capital Facility Programme is the fourth type of IDC funding. It is very different from the other kinds of Industrial Development Corporation funding.

Risk Capital Facility Programme funds aim at giving businesses owned by previously disadvantaged owners financial risk and boost them in offering more job opportunities in their enterprise. Another type of Industrial Development Corporation funding is the Transformation and Entrepreneurship Scheme. The exciting thing about this type of financing is that it focuses on financing the less marginalized groups in South Africa, which comprise of the women and the disabled individuals.

The Transformation and Entrepreneurship Scheme aims at helping individuals to start their businesses, or to see them through with their expansion projects. The other fascinating fact about these funds is that despite focusing on the marginalized groups in the society, this type of IDC funding also offers mentorship and non-financial aid to businesses such as business planning, mentorship programmes, and training sessions.

The last type of Industrial Development Corporation funding is the Green Energy Efficiency Fund. The Green Energy Efficiency Fund aims at improving energy efficiency in South Africa and ultimately making the country a low-carbon region. To ensure this is met, the Green Energy Efficiency tries to improve the production capacity of South Africa, lower the energy-related costs, and improve operational effectiveness and competitiveness in a bid to help in creating job opportunities in the country.

IDC funding requirements

There are several requirements for IDC South Africa. If you are thereby looking to apply for any of the several types of Industrial Development Corporation funds, then you must meet the following qualifying criteria:

• If you have an already existing business, then you should apply for expansion.
• If you are looking to start up your business, apply for funds for buildings, machinery, or for working capital.
• For those who are under 35 years of age, then they must have over 50% ownership of the business
• The businesses must have a track of economic merit and portray a prospect of profitability to service their obligation
• Where applicable, the company must have a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment certification from an accredited verification agency
• The companies must be looking to either expand or start-up in South Africa

For the duration of the funding period, businesses whose maximum cost per job does not exceed R500 000 relative to the total funding required

IDC youth funding

The government places so many significant projects to support the youth since the youth are viewed as the future. Due to this, it is only right to anticipate that the youth will finally go online and begin searching for ‘what are the IDC youth business funding opportunities?’ ‘How do you get the IDC tenders?’ ‘Is there any IDC bursary?’ and many more questions. There is an IDC youth branch set to support the youths in South Africa. It is known as the IDC’s Gro-E Youth Scheme.

The IDC’s Gro-E Youth Scheme gives financial support to the youths who are looking forward to setting up business enterprises, and gradually contributing to the rise of South Africa’s economy. The Gro-E Youth Scheme has R4.5 billion set aside to fund youth-empowered projects, and the enterprises belonging to the youths for over five years. The scheme issues loans at an interest rate of up to -3%, and an actual after-tax internal rate of returns adding up to six per cent equity.

IDC contact details

In some scenarios, individuals aiming at acquiring any of the mentioned types of IDC funding would like to contact an agent or visit their offices for further information and guidance. It is, therefore, no surprise that most South Africans are mostly online trying to search for ‘How can I contact the IDC for funding?’ It is effortless to contact this institution. For those individuals using the email, you can contact IDC using this email address callcentre@idc.co.za.

If you do not have an email or do not prefer this mode of communication, you can use your phone to give them a call. To reach the Industrial Development Corporation phone call center, an individual can use the following number; 0860 69 38 88. Lastly, if you would like to visit their website to either acquire more details about IDC funding, visit the following webpage; www.idc.co.za.

There are no limitations on the various types of Industrial Development Corporation funds that one can acquire. They are so many and range from the Risk Capital Facility Programme funds, Green Energy Efficiency, Transformation, and Entrepreneurship Scheme, Product Process Development Scheme (PPD), the development funds, and the Agro-Processing Competitiveness Funds.