The Jobs Fund awards grants to organisations through a competitive project application process where only the best ideas are funded. Operating on challenge fund principles, the Fund ensures that funding allocations are transparent, open and competitive, and are made by an independent Investment Committee. The Jobs Fund accepts applications from the private, public and non-governmental sector during calls for proposals. Project partners are required to share both risk and costs by matching the grant fund allocation. DTC can provide access to the Jobs Fund to assist businesses across the country.
Fund Objectives
The Fund stimulates good ideas, risk-taking, and investment. It encourages new ways of working where costs and risks may be unknown. In addition, it supports projects that deliver strong pro-poor outcomes. These outcomes include sustainable job creation that exceeds conventional approaches.
Furthermore, the Fund promotes opportunities that improve long-term employment prospects. It focuses especilly on youth and women in the country.
Funding Focus
The Jobs Fund supports innovative approaches that create employment in new and effective ways. It provides once-off grants. These grants cover enterprise development, infrastructure, support for work seekers, and institutional capacity building.
How the Challenge Fund Works
The Jobs Fund uses a challenge fund methodology. It allocates matching grants through a competitive and transparent process. As a result, it funds only the strongest ideas.
Moreover, the process encourages innovation and investment. These activities directly increase job creation in South Africa. An independent Investment Committee makes final decisions. It applies clear and defined criteria.
Role Within Broader Government Initiatives
The Fund does not address all structural causes of unemployment on its own. Instead, it complements other government initiatives.
In addition, the Development Bank of Southern Africa serves as the implementing agent. It operates under the appointment of National Treasury.
Complementary Approach
The Jobs Fund does not replace existing programmes. Instead, it strengthens and supports them. As a result, it enhances overall efforts to grow employment and economic opportunities.
Objective of the Jobs Fund to assist businesses
- To co-finance projects by public, private and non-governmental organisations that will significantly contribute to job creation. This involves the use of public money to catalyse innovation and investment on behalf of a range of economic stakeholders in activities that contribute directly to enhanced employment creation in South Africa.
- To address the challenge of unemployment, South Africa requires high rates of sustained economic growth. South Africa’s macro-economic policy environment, infrastructure asset base, schooling system and regulatory frameworks are all key to growth. However, improving and reforming these factors is a long-term process.
- These funding interventions will seek to overcome some of the barriers to job creation that have been identified. Some of these relate to demand for labour, some to the supply of labour and some to the broader institutional environment.
- It has been designed specifically to overcome these barriers by providing public funding through four “funding windows” i.e. Enterprise Development; Infrastructure Investment; Support for Work Seekers and Institutional Capacity Building.
- Within the four identified broad windows, the Jobs Fund seeks to stimulate good ideas, risk-taking and investment to discover new ways of working, where the costs and risks may be unknown, and where the pro-poor impact, principally in the form of sustainable job creation, may be significantly larger than with conventional approaches.
- At its core, the Jobs Fund seeks to operate as a catalyst for innovation and investment in activities which directly contribute to sustainable job creation initiatives, as well as long term employment creation.
Application Process for the Jobs Fund to assist businesses
Some elements applications should include are innovation, a clear indication of how jobs will be created, as well as show that significant results will be met through a Jobs Fund grant.
There is a two-stage application process. In the first stage, the applicant submits a concept application. The Fund then assesses all submissions within that funding window or category. If the application succeeds, the Fund invites
The applicant submits a full application in the second stage. The Investment Committee reviews the full application in the second stage and makes the final decision. Only successful applicants receive a grant. Furthermore, an independent Investment Committee decides on all funding allocations.
The Fund begins assessing applications on the day the call for proposals closes. It aims to complete the full assessment process within 110 days. However, it informs ineligible applicants by day 15. It notifies unsuccessful first-stage applicants by day 55. In addition, it informs unsuccessful second-stage applicants by day 110.
At DTC, we build mutual trust with each client. We work with international companies as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. We carefully assess each client’s activities, products, and professional environment. As a result, we deliver tailored solutions that meet each client’s specific business and corporate needs.
Contact us for further assistance in obtaining the Jobs Fund.
