25.11.2009 15:23:43

Investors Network Team

“South African businesses currently unable to find the credit they are looking for must look for alternative avenues of business finance. “ That was the recent message at a small business finance indaba recently held to find solutions to the many entrepreneurs and business owners looking to start or grow their businesses in 2010.

Cape Town – November 2009

Credit remains tight for small businesses across the country, despite a public relations boost from many of South Africa’s leading banks declaring that they are open for business and keen to support small business owners in the country. Despite the numerous government incentives and initiatives supporting banks that are still risk averse after the recent international banking crisis, and even with new lending initiatives from intuitions like the IDC, business owners still face incredible difficultly qualifying for credit and obtaining the funding they need.

“What we are seeing here is a bunch of sound bites created by the commercial banks who are merely pretending to pay attention to Main Street’s needs to gain political capital,” said John Stewart who lead the recent conference in Cape Town. ”The billions in loans offered to alleviate the credit crunch is not going to help many small businesses that are still struggling with the down economy and do not have the financial strength to meet the stringent lending criteria of these banks.”

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