Objectives
The objectives of CEDA are as follows:
Funding citizen-owned businesses:
- The provision of funding for the development of competitive and sustainable citizen-owned businesses and joint ventures operating both within and expanding outside the country;
Coordinating external funding:
- Proactively initiate and coordinate the provision of funding packages from sources other than government, such as development finance institutions (DFIs), international agencies, institutional funds, venture capital funds, and the commercial banking sector;
Supporting economic goals:
- The assisted businesses, enterprises, and citizens must contribute towards the objectives of economic diversification, employment creation, citizen economic empowerment, and poverty alleviation through the development of sustainable citizen enterprises;
Fostering entrepreneurship:
- Foster citizen entrepreneurship and empowerment through encouragement of a local entrepreneurial culture through funding.
Promoting business linkages:
- Promote the development of vertical integration and horizontal linkages between citizen enterprises and primary industries by effectively pursuing the business opportunities associated with the exploration and exploitation of natural resources.
Encouraging business growth:
- Promote the consolidation of citizen firms, amalgamations, and joint ventures as a means of growing the size of citizen business enterprises to enable them to compete more effectively with larger foreign-owned companies.
Expanding internationally:
- Where appropriate, finance the establishment of citizen businesses in foreign markets to enhance their international competitiveness.
Exposing financing options:
- Support entrepreneurship development by exposing citizen entrepreneurs to a whole range of possible business financing packages, including opportunities in the money markets and institutional investors.
Acquiring foreign businesses:
- Promote citizen economic empowerment through assisting to finance the acquisition of foreign-owned businesses or shares, where the entrepreneur(s) should play an active part in the management and operations of such businesses in an entrepreneurial role and not as a non-participating investor.
Accessing global markets:
- Improve access to international markets through cooperation, including joint ventures with foreign investors and investment in those markets through equity and credit guarantee schemes.
Supporting youth enterprises:
- Foster youth enterprises in business through effective pursuit of opportunities in all sectors of the economy.
Providing support services:
- Provide mentoring, technical assistance, and other appropriate support to CEDA-funded enterprises.
Retaining investment:
- Retain citizen investment in commercial/industrial property sectors and land.
Improving SMME access to finance:
- Address the problem of access to finance by small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) due to their inability to meet security requirements of commercial banks and other financial institutions through credit guarantees.
