The government’s R9 billion jobs fund, which is aimed at supporting job creation, will transfer its management to the newly established Government Technical Advisory Centre from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), Business Day reports.
The fund — established by the government in 2011 — awards grants to organisations through a competitive process and aims to create 150,000 permanent new jobs.
The advisory centre is an advisory and project management agency of the Treasury and incorporates the former Public Private Partnership Unit and the Technical Assistance Unit.
“The transfer will facilitate the Government Technical Advisory Centre’s support for the jobs fund while allowing the DBSA to focus on its core lending and development finance responsibilities,” the Treasury said.
The fund has to date approved funding for 91 projects, totalling R4.96bn, to facilitate the creation of more than 160,000 jobs over the programme’s life span.
According to Business Day, the fund creates jobs by supporting initiatives that generate employment in innovative ways. It offers one-off grants in the areas of enterprise development, infrastructure, support for work seekers and institutional capacity building.
Government’s R9bn jobs fund has new management [BDLive]
