The DBSA on behalf of the National Treasury invites public,
private, as well as South African non-governmental organisations to submit
innovative proposals that will facilitate job creation and lead to systemic
change within the South African economy.
R9 billion has been
set aside for the fund, aimed at creating
150,000 jobs over 3 years. It awards once-off grants
to partner organisations through a competitive project application process.
Project partners are required to match the grant fund allocation either on a
1:1 ratio for private sector partners or 1:0.2 for non-private sector partners.
So far, its investment committee has approved
54 projects, at a cost of R3bn. This has been matched with R3.7bn from
applicant organisations. Of the 54 approvals, 27 projects have been allocated
to contractors, who will help implement them. The 27 projects have signed
agreements for funding of more than R1bn. Of these, 19 were approved for NGOs, 5
for private companies and 3 for public sector institutions, creating only 745
jobs.
Brian Whittaker, deputy chairman of the Jobs Fund’s
investment committee, says the approved funding for the 54 projects will result
in the creation of about 65,000 new, permanent jobs and the placement of about
42,000 unemployed people into existing vacancies.
The Jobs Fund opened a third Call for proposals on the 3 December 2012. Interested
organisations are required to submit a concept note by 5pm on 15 March 2013. Only applications for the
following two funding windows are invited: Enterprise Development and Infrastructure.
Background
Since
opening in June 2011, the Jobs Fund has received over 3,500 applications with
over-subscription in some windows. Thus it is only opening the enterprise
development and infrastructure windows for this funding phase. Once these
applications have been reviewed, the Investment Committee will review the
balance of applications across the Fund and determine which areas will be open
for future funding.
The infrastructure window will co-finance light
infrastructure investment projects that are necessary to unlock job creation
potential in a particular area. Initiatives could include providing critical
missing infrastructure that creates trading opportunities; enhances access to
markets; improves the business environment for enterprises and catalyses
employment linked investment. The key characteristics of competitive projects
include: large scale impact; contribution to systemic change; innovation; value
for money; a clear link to job creation, and a demonstrable capacity to
implement.
It is looking for new business
models, products and markets in enterprise
development, including "umbrella" initiatives that could be
channels of support for smaller
enterprises or benefit these indirectly, such as the facilitation of market linkages and
supply chain diversification. The fund is also seeking to co-finance "light" infrastructure
investment projects. It is targeting established companies or
organisations with plans to expand existing programmes, or pilot innovative
approaches to employment creation, with a special focus on opportunities for
young people.
This first
stage requires the submission of a Concept Application in a
standardised format, via the electronic application system. The Concept
Application includes a description of all the key features of the project and
enables an initial assessment of the eligibility of an application as well as
its competitive performance against the impact criteria. Once all applications
have been scored, they are ranked in order to identify the strongest projects
within each funding window or broad category of projects and a decision is
taken as to which proposals should proceed to Stage Two: Full Applications.
This is the first competitive point in the application process. The Jobs Fund
appreciates that submitting an application can be a time consuming process. The
concept application stage allows applicants to test the strength and relevance
of their concept, without having to submit a detailed business plan.
The Jobs Fund will not fund projects in the following
categories:
- Bail out of distressed companies
- Start-up companies and initiatives with no proven record
- Training activities that are not linked to job placement
- Initiatives with large capital investment but minimal job creation potential
- Double dipping funding – the Jobs Fund does not seek to crowd out other funding sources.
