The Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) has launched a set of six short and long term business finance products which aim to support viable business ideas in the province.

ECDC Access is the short-term business finance products offering finance from R1,000 to R500,000 and comprises the Imbewu micro loan, Powerplus small loan, Workflow contractor loan and Nexus trade loan.

Two products form part of the long-term business finance offering, ECDC Future.  These are TermCap and Equitrader, with funding starting at R500,000 and capped around R20 million.

CEO Mxolisi Matshamba says the new products form part of the plan to rebuild ECDC into a sustainable organization with solid revenue-generating streams and which creates the foundation for other work such as skills development.

He says the combination of competitive products, skills development and lending aftercare makes ECDC a unique lender in the Eastern Cape.

"While our province still bears the scars of marginalization, our people, particularly our smaller entrepreneurs, show remarkable resilience.  StatsSA shows that the Eastern Cape has one of the highest proportions of entrepreneurs to population with women leading the group.  These products will help capacitate these businesses, says Matshamba.

Some of the key features of the new products include less stringent collateral requirements, 0% interest for trade finance as well as 10% interest cash back in the case of small and micro business loans.

In the case of the ECDC Future product, Equitrader, which can be used to fund equity in black economic empowerment deals or bolster clients' balance sheets to facilitate further lending, ECDC would customize this product according to the nature of the transaction. This product is particularly timeous since the current  socio-economic climate is ripe for black economic empowerment deals.

The revamped product line up is the result of research conducted for ECDC which pointed out that its existing client base was highly satisfied with its service.  However, it also revealed that people who had not dealt with ECDC did not know that it provided business finance, and part of the campaign's aim is to change this perception.

Executive manager Development Investments Chris Bierman says that the corporation is able to ramp its lending significantly since ECDC has an adequate cash stockpile which it wishes to convert into development assets.

He says stakeholder response to the business finance products has been encouraging with serious players such as Coega, the East London IDZ as well as provincial government departments now involved through cooperation agreements.

"As an organization that has a mandate of economic development, we have a strong appetite especially for black economic empowerment projects.  We don't have any preference for any sector but one of the qualities we are looking for is a strong entrepreneurial spirit.  We have the infrastructure to provide monitoring and lending aftercare, where appropriate.  Aftercare is particularly relevant since more and more businesses are struggling because of difficult market conditions," explains Bierman.

Bierman also adds that the organization is also looking to fund companies which may not be headquartered in the province but which may have significant operations within the province, particularly if future expansions would benefit the province.

Bierman adds that ECDC had concluded several deals of significant size in recent months.

Further details are available from www.ecdc.co.za or the shareline 0860 ECDC FIN.

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For more information, contact:

Chris Bierman

ECDC executive manager: Development Investments

Telephone 043 704 5600

Email cbierman@ecdc.co.za

For ECDC media relations

Lunga Mtshizana

SMG Africa

Telephone 043 726 8833

Cellular 083 6187 557

Email lunga@smgafrica.com