Bhisho<\/p>\n
A thought-provoking debate intrigued participants at the Business Parliament hosted by the Legislature on 22 August 2025, as delegates from across the province engaged in discussion on issues affecting the business sector. Delegates sharply raised key concerns requiring intervention by government including the legislature that entrepreneurs are faced with, these included:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Stringent requirements for access to finance and cumbersome application processes, with some DFIs accepting only online applications.
\n\u2022 Certain bylaws hindering businesses from operating.
\n\u2022 Regulatory obstacles in the construction sector, such as letters of good standing at lower grades and high thresholds in plant hiring.
\n\u2022 Limited access to finance for production inputs and infrastructure, including connectivity challenges.
\n\u2022 Theft on farms, especially livestock.<\/p>\n
The Honourable Minister, Stella Ndabeni, speaking at the event highlighted progress made by government to build an inclusive economic growth and change economic status of the province. These included policies formulated, incubation centres established, approaches to improve access to funding for full participation by SMMEs in available opportunities, with Youth Fund, credit guarantees, spaza shop assist fund, blended finance initiatives as some of the interventions to empower entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
The Minister added that millions of rands have already been disbursed to women-owned businesses, with additional measures such as a Women\u2019s Fund and Youth Entrepreneurs Fund set to be launched. The Minister also noted that applications for the spaza shop registration programme remain low in the Eastern Cape calling upon South African entrepreneurs in the province to make use of this programme with her department offering support beyond tye existing support by municipalities to ensure that spaza shops are assisted to register. She also emphasised that her department would focus on cooperatives including family-owned cooperatives.<\/p>\n
The Sectoral Parliament was attended by Members of the Provincial Legislature, MECs, representatives from various government departments, these include; the Department of Small Business Development, Trade, Industry and Competition, Science, Technology and Innovation, Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Employment and Labour, Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency (SEDFA), Independent Development Corporation, National Empowerment Fund, Business Chambers, and Provincial State-Owned Entities. These formed part of panel discussions responding on the support directed to the business sector towards accelerating women and youth economic empowerment.<\/p>\n
The Business Parliament reaffirmed the importance of collaboration between government and the private sector to unlock opportunities, strengthen entrepreneurship, and drive inclusive economic growth in the province.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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