South Africa sets up R1bn fund to assist black farmers
South Africa announced the establishment of a R1-billion fund to help small-scale Black farmers enter commercial agricultural production.
The Department of Agriculture will provide money and it will be run by the Industrial Development Corp., a state-owned development bank. The IDC will also contribute in the form of loans. The fund will have an initial duration of 10 years.
“The broader agricultural sector is central to the recovery of the local economy,” said IDC Chief Executive Officer Tshokolo Nchocho.
In addition to addressing the racial inequality that is a legacy of apartheid the fund will, to some extent, fill the void left by the Land & Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa, a state bank that’s defaulted on its debt and is struggling to provide fresh finance for farmers.
The creation of the fund may encourage lending to the sector by commercial banks as well as other state development institutions, said Thoko Didiza, South Africa’s agriculture minister, at a press conference on Thursday.
South Africa’s ruling party is considering pushing to have the government amend the constitution to allow for the redistribution of land without compensation, especially inactive land, to boost Black participation in the economy. The fund aims to focus on horticulture, fruit for export, livestock and poultry.
The IDC has already invested R4-billion in agriculture and plans to double that amount over the next four years, Nchocho said.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation