“Numbers really don’t tell the whole story”
Given The People’s Fund’s (TPF) line of work, this saying by Author Julius Peppers, has never held much weight and through their 5-year partnership with the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA), the numbers are the true champion of this story. TPF will outlay half a billion in funding to over 5000 SMEs over the next five years.
BACKGROUND
The People’s Fund is a crowdfunded purchase order funding company that was established in 2017 with R3000 and has mushroomed to a R150 Million a year business in just 4 years.
The premise of The People’s Fund is to get more people participating in what is usually an exclusionary economy for the majority of South Africans. This is done by availing much needed capital for orders that small businesses have with corporate and government.
The mandate of SEFA is to foster the establishment, survival and growth of SMMEs and Co-operatives. They’ve sought to achieve this through offering various financial products that aid the sustainability and growth of these businesses. It is with this in mind that a potential partnership with SEFA was enticing to TPF as their capacity to outlay more funding would greatly increase and in turn, benefit a greater number of entrepreneurs.
NUMBERS ARE SIZEABLE
SEFA has given The People’s Fund a wholesale facility to fund SMEs and the targeted outlay is R540 Million over the next five years. This will be outlaid to over 5000 SMEs with purchase orders with government and corporate. The knock on effect of this funding is over 16 000 jobs maintained or created.
CEO of The People’s Fund, Luyanda Jafta had this to say “It’s clear that with SEFA coming on board, We [TPF] can take our impact on SMEs to a whole new level. There is no lack of eager talented entrepreneurs out there desperately seeking funding and now we can play an even bigger role in funding and building lasting relationships that will not only benefit them in the immediate future but also have a lasting impact on their lives. “