The National Treasury and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) on Friday announced that the responsibility for the management of the R9-million Jobs Fund would be transferred from the DBSA to the newly established Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC).

The GTAC had been established as an advisory and project management agency of the National Treasury and incorporated the former public–private partnership and technical assistance units.

The transfer of the fund would facilitate GTAC’s focused support of the Jobs Fund, while also allowing the DBSA to focus on its core lending and development finance responsibilities, National Treasury said in a statement.

The Jobs Fund, which sought to catalyse innovation and investment in activities which directly contributed to sustainable as well as long-term employment opportunities, had since it inception approved funding for 91 projects worth R4.96-billion and facilitated the creation of more than 160 000 jobs.

“We take very seriously the challenge of unemployment in this country, particularly [that of] young people. We must work hard and work together to respond to the very difficult challenges we face,” Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said.

The next phase in the implementation of the fund would see a shift towards partnerships with larger intermediaries to enable the fund to scale up its activities, drawing on experience over the past three years and promoting broader systemic impacts.

A fourth funding round will be announced toward the end of this year.