Paul Kibuuka

During the last fifteen years, it has become apparent that capacity building is an important ingredient for sustainable development. In this regard, governments in Africa rank capacity building for infrastructure delivery amongst the top priorities for promoting sustainable development.
A large share of Africa’s infrastructure is domestically financed, with the central government budget being the main driver of infrastructure investment. It is, therefore, important to strengthen the finance and technical capacity of public sector officials to effectively manage the preparation, structuring, implementation and operations and maintenance of infrastructure.
In the quest to improve the infrastructure delivery capacity of public sector officials, this dip stick survey has assessed and highlighted gaps in terms of limited working knowledge of financial instruments, products and services such as viability gap finance and partial risk guarantees, as well as different financing models including fixed and floating interest rate borrowing from DFIs. All officials interviewed confirmed the importance of prioritizing finance training in the areas of selection, preparation and appraisal of investment projects

This paper investigates factors determining co-operative small enterprises access to the co-operative grant incentive scheme in South Africa. The raw data used in this study were extracted from the Cooperative Incentive Scheme (CIS) database over the sample financial period FY 2010/11 to FY 2014/15. The amount approved was modelled as the dependent variable, while the turnover prior to application, number of employees, number of members, number of males, number of females, number of youth, number of the disabled, and purpose of application for additional capital were the exploratory variables in the model. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 for Windows was used to perform data processing and statistical analysis using the multiple linear regression method for the overall model and stepwise multiple linear regression method at sectoral level. Estimated results indicate that turnover prior to application, the number of members, males, females and youth had a significant impact on the amount approved for the applications submitted by firms in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors during the sample financial years under review. The paper concludes that the department of small business development should focus on implementing strategies that promote access to the CIS grant funding targeting SMEs co-operatives in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors located mainly in the rural areas of South Africa.

Keywords: small and medium enterprises, co-operative, grant, incentive, South Africa.
JEL Classification: L26, H81

This paper analyzes the state of economic growth and development in the City of Johannesburg (COJ) South Africa as by the year 2016 and presents a case for transformation and development of the City towards a fully inclusive economy and society. The research reveals that faster and sustainable economic growth in addition to proactive pro-equity policies are a sine qua non for inclusive growth and participation in the City, where the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment persist more than 20 years into the democratic dispensation. During the last 17 years the City economy has grown at almost the same pace as the national South African economy with a trend reflective of major world economic events. Going forward, the South African economy is projected to grow at less 2% annually in the next 3 years. In terms of the City, the prognosis is that the City will either continue to trace the national economic growth rate or decline from 2% in 2016 to 1% in 2018. In order to achieve the objectives and goals of the Johannesburg 2040 Growth and Development Strategy in the long term and the City Integrated Development Plan in the medium term, the City leadership and administration will need to begin by not only addressing factors that inhibit economic efficiency including crime and corruption, but also the provision of a critical pipeline of skills required by industry in order to attract local and international investment. The increase in investment is expected to broaden the revenue base and to strengthen the financial capacity of the City to roll out services to the previously disadvantaged communities so as to bring them into the mainstream of economic empowerment and social transformation.

The research article presents catalytic and innovative mechanisms for the use of fiscal grant funding to crowd in private sector investment for water infrastructure projects in the Republic of South Africa. Chapter Two of the South African Constitution (1996) includes a series of socio-economic rights, of which the right of access to water is one of those afforded its people, but this access is not currently provided to the entire population. The study uses a mixed methods approach, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative data sequentially. The data gathered involved a non-random purposive sample of best practice from European Union-funded projects internationally, South Africa-based projects, and qualitative interviews with officials from international development finance institutions and the National Treasury. It was found that the strategic targeting of grant funding to mitigate project risks, better enabled investor confidence. Through the use of three innovative financing tools, specifically investment grants, interest rate subsidies and technical assistance, government was able to leverage further investment into projects. The research concluded that blended grants for debt financing should be a consideration in South Africa. Specifically, as the current challenges in the water sector relate to constrained financial gaps, as well as capacity and skills deficits, these could be addressed strategically and deliberately through the use of blended fiscal grants targeting innovative financing tools. To allow for blending as recommended, budget reforms in South Africa are necessary.