Open up business opportunities for new entrants – Mayor Moimana

MARBLE HALL – To unlock support such as access to the market and funding opportunities for small businesses and emerging cooperatives to build a sustainable rural economy, various stakeholders including the local government, the farming and business communities as well as government departments convened an economic summit in Marble Hall Town on Thursday, 30 June 2022.

The stakeholders who participated in the summit were Absa, SEDA, LEDA, the Department of Agriculture, the Piet Citrus Farm, Old Mutual and Super Oil.

Percy Moagi, Ephraim Mogale Local Municipality (EPMLM) Spokesperson, said the municipality, through its LED office managed to give funding to thirteen small businesses during the financial year 2020/2021 and that in the current financial year 2021/2022, they were funding twenty-three small businesses with their stringent budget.

Setso African Tea Crafter, one of the beneficiaries of the municipality’s funding program, thanked the local municipality for funding them and encouraged other small businesses not to despair if their applications were turned down.

The business advised and stressed that there was a need for a bankable business in order to sustain businesses.

Given Moimana, EPMLM Mayor, said that expressed gratitude to the organizers and the stakeholders for staging the economic summit and encouraged for progressive resolutions.

Moimana indicated that time for talk-shows were over and that there was a serious need for actions and results that benefited people.

He said that the current local municipality’s administration would not sand in the way people towards economic development.

“Our turn-around time for applications for funding should be a month and our people should be assisted so that we then can get funding,” said Moimana.

The Mayor also urged big business to open up access to the market for new entrants and that they should decentralize economy to all seventy villages in the municipality.