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Economic Growth Program Description

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Small and Medium Enterprise Development
 
South Africa International Business Linkages-II (SAIBL-II) 
Implementer:            Corporate Council of Africa (CCA) 
Duration:                   April 2008 – April 2012
Estimated Budget: $16.5 million 
 
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) represent 50 percent of South Africa’s GDP and roughly 60 percent of the workforce. In support of the South African Government’s aim for greater participation and inclusion of black-owned SMEs in the economy, through the South African International Business Linkages Project (SAIBL-II), USAID assists black businesses to better access domestic and international market opportunities. USAID programs assisted more than 400 SMEs that generated $150 million in sales this past year. To foster sustainable relationships between large and small businesses, SAIBL-II is also helping to establish the new South African Supplier Diversity Council (SASDC), a corporate-led organization to build supplier capacity and increase business opportunities for black SMEs,
 
South African Supplier Diversity Council (SASDC)
Implementer:            SASDC
Duration:                   3 years
Project Ceiling:         $1.5 million
 
The SASDC is a corporate member directed organization that seeks to be the leading corporate council in South Africa, dedicated to promoting sustainable supplier diversity through targeted procurement and black supplier development. Its goal is to facilitate business linkages between its corporate member’s and bona fide black-owned SMEs geared toward becoming long-term, qualified entities capable of competing in the national and international economic mainstream. Through USAID support to establish and strengthen SASDC, SASDC will be able to: grow membership; deliver valued member services; provide access to certified suppliers; and facilitate business linkages between large and small companies.
 
Financial Sector Development
Financial Sector Project (FSP)
Implementer:            Chemonics
Duration:                   May 2008 – May 2013
Estimated Budget:  $14.5 million 
 
USAID’s Financial Sector Program (FSP) promotes access to quality, affordable financial services and adoption of policies and programs to foster private sector growth, jobs, and investment. In the area of SME finance, the program partners with banks such as ABSA and Blue Financial, to offer new products and guarantees to increase credit access to black-owned SMEs. Through FY 2012, USAID has supported over $175 million in lending to nearly 1,000 SMEs. FSP also supports development of Financial Business Development Services (fBDS) by strengthening BDS provides to enhance the financial literacy of SMEs. USAID’s policy reform efforts through FSP supports the SAG’s Department of Trade and Industry (dti), the National Treasury, and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission on legal and regulatory reforms affecting SMEs. FSP assisted the dti to develop Amendments and Regulations to the new Companies Act, which was enacted in May 2011; and continues to support the National Treasury and the Presidency’s efforts to strengthen SAG’s policy-making capacity through training on Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIA) methodology. 
 
Development Credit Authority (DCA) for SMEs
Implementers: ABSA Bank, Blue Financial Services, Spartan Technologies, True Group, and Cadiz Asset Management
Duration:                   7-10 years
Portfolio Amount:     $230 million 
 
USAID uses Development Credit Authority (DCA) guarantees around the world to encourage lending to creditworthy but underserved sectors. USAID’s Financial Sector Program (FSP) integrates DCAs to mitigate the risk of lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and to encourage financial institutions to increase access to finance for SMEs. USAID/Southern Africa Regional Economic Growth Office (REGO) has five SME DCA guarantee agreements in place, including deals with ABSA Bank, Blue Financial Services, Spartan Technologies, True Group and Cadiz Asset Management, with a total potfolio amount of $230 million.
 
NEXII Impact Investment Global Development Alliance (GDA)
Implementer:          NeXii
Budget:                   $400,000
Duration:                November 2011 – October 2013  
 
NeXii is an impact investment global social enterprise and advisory firm. Its purpose is to increase and improve the flow of capital to high impact social and environmental initiatives addressing critical global challenges including poverty, climate change or renewable energies through three impact platforms: the Impact Exchange Board (iX), the Impact Capital platform (iC) and the Impact Opportunities Platform (iOP). The iX is the world's first regulated impact investing exchange board for Impact Investments seeking a listing in the public capital markets. NeXii in collaboration with the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) received in July 2011 formal regulatory approval of the listing and trading rules for the iX from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in Mauritius.  The Grant award will support and grow the number of social impact listings and institutional investors for the iX, aiding development objectives across sectors.
 
 
Strategic Partnership linkages to the region
 
US-South Africa Feed the Future (FTF) Strategic Partnership – Africa LEAD
Implementer:           Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI)/University of Pretoria
Duration:                   2010 - 2012
Funding to Date:      $1.2 million
 
South Africa is a US-Strategic Partner to advance food security in the Southern Africa region. Through the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future (FTF) initiative, USAID is leveraging South Africa’s technical and training capacity to improve agriculture leadership in the region to advance the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) agenda. USAID partnered with the University of Pretoria to train 126 representatives from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe government, private sector, research institutions, and civil society to help them to develop national strategies and plans, and strategically allocate resources for the agriculture sector. Key local partners include University of Pretoria Food Security Unit (served as the training institute) and NEPAD’s Planning and Coordination Agency (NPCA). 
 
US-South Africa Feed the Future (FTF) Strategic Partnership – Government to Government   
Partner:                    SAG Department of Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF)  
Funding to Date:      $1 million
Duration:                  July 2011 – July 2014
 
South Africa, India, and Brazil are three U.S.-Strategic Partners to advance food security in the world. Through the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future (FTF) initiative, USAID is leveraging South Africa’s public and private sector, universities and other institution’s technical expertise and training capacity to enhance food security across the African continent. USAID is engaging South Africa’s Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) to build capacity and support their efforts to assist countries in the region to enhance their food security.