scholarly journals Small, micro and medium enterprises financing: Costs and benefits of lending technologies in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edson Mbedzi ◽  
Munacinga Simatele

Orientation: As lack of access to credit hinders small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) success and lending technologies being conduits transmit credit access, more focus must be on the effect of lending technologies on credit rationing.Research purpose: To analyse the extent of credit rationing amongst SMMEs based on lender and firm characteristics.Motivation for the study: In South Africa, SMMEs are funded by different lenders using different lending technologies, but little is known about which ones are more effective.Research approach/design and method: The study takes a quantitative approach. In this study, 321 SMMEs are sampled from 1486 small businesses on the registers of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber and the Border-Kei Chamber of Business in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Financing of SMMEs is captured with a categorical credit-rationing variable. Accordingly, a logit technique is used. The first model captures credit rationing as a binary variable. In the second model, the nature of credit rationing is disaggregated resulting in a four-measure categorical variable.Main findings: Little rationing occurs when asset-based and venture capital methods are used. Microfinance and privately owned development financial institutions have high rationing levels, similar to commercial banks, defeating the purpose of their special existence to address excluded groups. Black people-owned and female-owned businesses are the most rationed. Credit rationing decreases with firm size, but the effects are amplified by race.Practical/managerial implications: To improve SMMEs access to finance, the government should focus on allocating funds to firms using SMMEs’ credit rationing risk profiles.Contribution/value-add: Lending technology, lender type and SMME characteristics relationships indicate that SMMEs can benefit from a well-understood rationing risk profile of firms in the economy. Therefore, policies on support and regulation of the distribution of loan portfolios aligned to empirical rationing risk profiles can improve SMME growth. However, this study has used SMME data from the Eastern Cape province only, one of the nine provinces in South Africa. Thus, the provincial heterogeneity effects are not captured in this study.

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Mutemi Kajiita ◽  
Simon Kang’ethe

The dismantling of Apartheid era in South Africa in 1994, the advent of democratic era, was welcomed with a package of hope for the citizens as far as development was concerned. Since then, the government has been playing a key role in service delivery. Nonetheless, gaps exist in dispensing an array of services and this has prompted the interventions of NGOs in such developmental discourses. Through a mixed method research approach, this article explores the milestones of NGOs in South Africa while drawing pieces of evidence from Eastern Cape Province. The findings indicate that NGOs have responded positively to the prevention and treatment of various diseases, offered training and facilitated medical facilities in the province, promoted early childhood education and finally ensured regularity in services delivery. The article recommends that the public should appreciate and show goodwill to the efforts of the NGOs, pull their resources together to support and sustain the already existing NGO projects.


Author(s):  
Lelethu Mdoda ◽  
Ajuruchukwu Obi

Smallholder irrigation farming is transformative to poor households as they improve livelihoods and alleviate poverty but little has been done to quantify their profitability. The present study assessed the profitability of smallholder irrigated crop farmers in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and ascertained their determinants. A multi-stratified technique was employed to select 120 smallholder irrigated crop farmers. Data were analysed using gross margin and multiple regression models. Results showed that crop production is profitable. Farm experience, years spent in school, access to credit, distance to markets, and tractor use were found to have a bearing on the profitability of the irrigated crop farmers. Based on the results, crop farming is identified as crucial for jobs and poverty reduction.  


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1363-1371
Author(s):  
Philisani Ncoko ◽  
Ishmael Festus Jaja ◽  
James Wabwire Oguttu

Background and Aim: Abattoir processes from skinning, evisceration, to chilling usually lead to meat contamination by foodborne pathogens. Hence, continual microbial surveillance of slaughter carcasses by veterinary public health officials is key to preventing contamination and outbreak of meat-related foodborne diseases. This study was conducted to determine the Enterobacteriaceae count and aerobic plate count (APC) and to detect Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. in meat and water from selected slaughter facilities. Materials and Methods: Retrospective data (n=100) collected in 2017 by the Provincial Veterinary Department of the Eastern Cape Province from abattoirs and prospective survey data of meat (n=50) collected in 2018 from abattoirs in the Eastern Cape Province were utilized in this study. APC and Enterobacteriaceae were enumerated from the samples. In addition, Salmonella and E. coli were isolated from samples using selective media. Results: The APC in both retrospective and prospective studies for all samples ranged between 2 and 4.50 log CFU/cm2; similar counts of 2-4.00 log CFU/cm2 were recorded for Enterobacteriaceae. No significant difference (p>0.05) for APC and Enterobacteriaceae count across all meat types was noted. Salmonella and E. coli were detected in 50% of beef. E. coli was not detected from mutton, but Salmonella was found in 66.7%. Moreover, 91.7% of the water samples had E. coli, but none had Salmonella. Conclusion: The levels of Enterobacteriaceae and APC observed in meat satisfy regulatory conditions outlined by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, South Africa and show that meat produced from these abattoirs is of acceptable microbial quality. However, the quality of water used in the abattoirs does not meet the requirements set by the government, and contributes to contamination of meat produced in the abattoirs under study. Therefore, we recommend that sources of water be continuously investigated to eliminate or reduce the risk of contamination of meat processed in the abattoirs.


Mousaion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charleen Musonza ◽  
Ndakasharwa Muchaonyerwa

This study examines the influence of knowledge management (KM) practices on public service delivery by municipalities in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The study sought to determine the factors that have triggered the implementation of KM practices; the effectiveness of KM practices towards public service delivery; and the extent to which KM practices have influenced public service delivery by municipalities in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in this study. Quantitative data were collected through a survey questionnaire administered to a sample of 202 employees at the Raymond Mhlaba Municipality in the Eastern Cape. Qualitative data were collected through observations and interviews of 2 senior managers. The data collected gave a response rate of 72 per cent. The quantitative and qualitative data were analysed descriptively and presented verbatim respectively. The results indicated that the internal and external factors included in this study have contributed to the implementation of KM practices in the municipality. Furthermore, the effective use of KM practices has increased the organisational KM initiative, as well as the provision of services such as electricity, education, transport, and social services by the municipality. The study recommends the establishment of KM awareness and the establishment of an integrated system that will assist in effective knowledge sharing, retention and acquisition across municipalities in the Eastern Cape.


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