14 Apr 2024

 Not everybody who registered will proceed to the next level for application of  the Chema Chema fund as stated in the eligibility criteria.

LEA Head of Information and Knowledge Management, Ms Dinah Solani clarified to BOPA in an interview that the system was designed to validate applicants for eligibility.

She said at registration level,  they enquire about exposure to business over the past three years as a way of profiling and informing themselves on the interventions needed to fund a business.

She said they used the information to confirm what business skills the applicants possessed, adding they were not interested on LEA training only, but even training offered by other stakeholders.

She said LEA was mandated to register all SMMEs interested in applying for the fund as well as capacity building, monitoring and support for those interested.
“LEA is the first step before applicants are passed to CEDA for funding,” she said

Ms Solani said on the first day, 5 553 people showed up at LEA’s 15 branches, mostly to enquire on loan eligibility criteria and sectors to be funded.

She further said 12 690 people went into the system to create accounts, but with no required documents hence could not proceed with registration.

This, she said presented congestion in the system due to suspended transactions.

She said only 1 100 of 12 690 were able to successfully register while 341 were registered at the offices.

“These numbers are a reflection that self-registration works as the office only registered 34 per cent while 66 per cent are self-registered,” she said.

She said they preferred the elderly to get physical service from the offices, while tech-savvy generation/youth could use self-registration.

She also said once teething problems on the system were addressed, self-registration would be the most convenient method.

Ms Solani further said the fund management committee was already at a funding approval stage for the proposals submitted.

She said their turnaround time was 10 days, provided all the necessary processes were completed.

She said the fund covered micro enterprises that made less than P200 000 per annum. She said even registered companies would undergo eligibility criteria to qualify for Chema Chema.

She said repaying the loan within the set period, qualifies one for a top up.

She also explained that those with business ideas would be assessed depending on their business experience.

She said 66 per cent of the people who registered were female while 34 per cent was male. She said  44 per cent of youth had also registered.

“The 45 per cent of the 1 000 who have registered are only presenting business ideas, 26 per cent are in the retailing and selling, 8.3 per cent in agriculture and 4.8 per cent in manufacturing while the rest are spread across other sectors,” she said.

The 40-year-old Mr Ben Mogami said should his proposal pass, he would use the funds to develop his garden into an event hosting site which will include a campsite. He was also hoping to be capacitated with business skills to enable him to use the funds wisely. ENDS