Gauteng’s first funding fair will stimulate entrepreneurship in the province, create jobs and further enhance the local economy, Gauteng MEC for Finance Mandla Nkomfe said on Tuesday at the official launch of the Gauteng Funding Fair (GFF), in Sandton.

The GFF is a joint initiative by the Gauteng provincial government and professional services firm Deloitte, and will take place on March 25 and 26 at Emperor’s Palace, in Johannesburg.

Nkomfe stated that the funding fair aimed to fulfil the national imperative of an inclusive economy and address socioeconomic imbalances, both of which were key pillars in the National Development Plan.

He added that these pillars, therefore, formed part of the Gauteng provincial government’s seven strategic priorities.

“With a gross domestic product (GDP) valued at R811-billion, Gauteng generates 34% of South Africa’s GDP and 10% of the total GDP of the African continent. It is, therefore, appropriate that the province – the economic hub and nerve centre of commercial activity, not just for the country or Southern African region but the entire continent – should host this funding fair,” Nkomfe stated.

The initiative would facilitate “a vigorous dialogue” between entrepreneurs, project promoters and various types of funders, and take place under three segments – corporate, infrastructure and small, medium-sized and micro enterprises (SMMEs).

The corporate leg of the fair would take place in March and assess the entrepreneurial expertise of Gauteng’s best business minds. Entrepreneurs with sound business ideas would have until February 7 to submit their projects, with starting value of R20-million, for the corporate leg of the event.

The most bankable ideas would be selected by a team of Deloitte and provincial government facilitators. Entrepreneurs would then have 15 minutes to present their projects to a panel of funders.

The infrastructure leg of the fair would assist aspiring industrialists to take advantage of programmes such as the Strategic Infrastructure Projects (Sips), which include the upgrade of the Durban–Free State–Gauteng Freight Logistics and Industrial Corridor.

Nkomfe stated that often the challenge in infrastructure spending was not the lack of funding or lack of projects but a mismatch between project structure and funding requirement. The GFF aimed to bridge that gap, he said. 

In the SMME segment, delegates would learn about the types of businesses that could thrive in Gauteng, which was connected to the Southern African region. Delegates would also be shown how to write and prepare bankable business ideas that had higher probability of attracting funding.

The infrastructure and SMME fairs would follow during the course of 2014.

“As government, our role is to create an enabling environment for funders and entrepreneurs to have a meeting of minds and explore possibilities. The funding fair offers this platform over two interactive days of exhibitions, workshops and business coaching,” Nkomfe said.

He added that the funding fair would help conclude the current political term of government on a positive note and lay a strong foundation for the next five years to accelerate job creation.

Nkomfe pointed out that the Gauteng government’s first strategic objective was to create decent work in an inclusive and growing economy. The desired outcome of that strategic priority was to stimulate redistributive economic development to create decent work, sustainable livelihoods and reduce income inequality.

He noted that government could not achieve this goal on its own and the solutions proposed by delegates at the GFF would be of value in achieveing government’s strategic priorities.

Further, Nkomfe believed that while government had made strides to reduce the cost of doing business and continued to do so by investing in infrastructure, there was still a need to offer technical assistance to aspiring entrepreneurs and industrialists.

“In search of a partner with whom to stage this event, we could not have gone for a better candidate than Deloitte. Not only do they bring their depth of expertise to benefit in the areas of auditing, tax, advisory and project management services but they also bring hands on experience of running an event of this nature,” Nkomfe concluded.