IN A MAJOR boost for empowerment through the Coega Project, the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) has agreed to provide bridging finance for emerging businesses. In terms of the programme, small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) contractors who win building/construction contracts from the CDC will be able to access bridging finance and building material in order to carry out their construction projects. The finance programme is the latest step in the CDC's ongoing efforts to maximise the participation of emerging business in the Coega Project. Already 14 out the 17 SMME contractors who were recently awarded contracts of between R500 000 and R3 million each to build housing units in the project's construction village have benefited from this programme through the allocation of bridging finance. CDC SMME specialist Nokwanda Benya says access to finance is a major factor limiting the participation of small contractors on projects like Coega. As a result, she says, many small contractors are unable to break out of their emerging business status. "Even though the CDC is fully committed to empowering small businesses - and this is reflected in our procurement policy – the barriers which the small contractors face in accessing financing has presented a major challenge to us. "This programme is a groundbreaking achievement for the SMME sector, and the innovative approach adopted by the CDC and the ECDC shows the gains that can be made through collaborating with the relevant stakeholders in addressing an issue that, clearly, the CDC could not address on its own," says Benya. As the Coega Project rollout commenced early in the year, the CDC discovered that while SMMEs were awarded contracts by the corporation, most were not able to begin working on site because they struggled with access to finance and were largely not credit worthy to financial institutions. Working in close collaboration with the ECDC, the CDC facilitated the process of getting SMMEs to access the funding the ECDC had for assisting SMMEs in the construction sector. "The programme comes out of a negotiated process between two organizations sharing the same objective. The bonus is that this boosts the credit worthiness of SMMEs to both financial institutions and materials suppliers, which gives them the opportunity to grow and develop beyond the small, micro and medium label," says Benya. The CDC facilitated the setting up of the programme as part of its objectives for the development contracts, which in terms of the CDC's procurement policy are specifically set aside for SMMEs. Besides facilitating this programme, the CDC SMME unit further supports and empowers SMMEs through pre-tender training, contractor development and training, contractor mentorship and interfacing with financial institutions and materials suppliers on behalf of SMMEs.