THE KZN Growth Fund Agency (KZNGFA) has completed the automation of its funding application process, culminating in the launch of an online application portal, linked to the fund’s website. Online submissions will save applicants’ time, while also supporting entrepreneurs with the funding process to ensure that all applications are submitted with all the necessary information, in order to speed up the adjudication of applications.
The KZNGFA is a development finance institution (DFI) offering a minimum funding amount of R20 million to black-owned medium-to large-scale private sector projects throughout the Province of KwaZulu-Natal which are ready to scale up and expand their operations to ensure economic development and job creation in the province.
“The application process for funding business growth can be daunting and given that our applicants have likely been denied funding by the traditional financial institutions, we understand that there may be some resistance to the application process,” said board chairperson, Dr Cassius Lubisi. “That is why we have invested the best resources available to us to ensure that this online application portal meets the industry standards, but also sets the tone for the kind of support in growth and development that applications can expect from the KZNGFA, if their applications are successful,” he added.
Lubisi emphasised that the kind of applicant who is suitable to access funding from the KZNGFA is a black-owned business in any of the following industries: transport and logistics, agriculture, manufacturing, mining, forestry and tourism, to name but a few. “These are the industries that are at the heart of economic development in the province, and from which black-owned businesses were excluded for far too long,” he added. The KZNGFA is hoping to attract more applicants at the right calibre to ensure that its mandate as an economic stimulator is met.
The online application portal has been developed in such a way as to provide an easy-to-follow guide for applicants, to ensure that no step in the application process is unfinished, and that there are no incomplete applications that are submitted. “Our investment team has in the past been inundated with applications that are missing support documents, or which have been incorrectly completed and this interrupts the funding process. Because we are committed to supporting our applicants, this online application portal will be an asset for all future applicants,” said Lubisi.
Applicants will now be able to save their applications and return to them once they have gathered the necessary documents or information to allow them to proceed with the application. “Our automated system will not accept the submission of an incomplete application. Therefore, the applicant can rest assured that once the system confirms that their application is complete, the application would be ready for consideration by our investment team,” concluded Lubisi.
