The goal of the Sanlam and Sanparks SMME support programme is to create sustainable businesses by providing supply chain finance at the lowest cost possible. The programme will offer short-term working capital through interest-free loans to SMMEs with whom Sanparks can procure goods and services. The programme will start in and around the Kruger National Park (KNP). Karl Socikwa, group executive of market development and sustainability at Sanlam, said this is an example of the group’s commitment to sustainable growth on the African continent.

For Sanparks, the programme forms part of a broader strategy to uplift SMMEs in the communities surrounding its parks. Sanparks aims to secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development.

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It said a socio-economic transformation strategy to initiate, facilitate, coordinate, catalyse and implement an integrated socio-economic development programme for the just and equitable benefit of current and future generations, has been formulated. The CEO of Sanparks, Hapiloe Sello, expressed her appreciation to Sanlam for the business development support initiatives.

“Our incubation programme has yielded a group of young, determined entrepreneurs who have shown eagerness to transact with the park and to promote rural economic development. “As an organisation, we buy services and goods and have always been ready to transact with our neighbouring communities,” she said. SMMEs that are contracted to Sanparks and are interested in accessing the programme, should liaise directly with the Sanparks supply chain management unit at the KNP.