Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters/MBA)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37942

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    Investigation of Online Peer to Peer Lending as a means to facilitate entrepreneurial finance in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Pholo, Makgowe Adam; Ojah, Kalu
    With technological advancement in the financial sector over the last few years, there now exists digital business loan providers for both SMMEs and retail borrowers. These digital loans have expanded the scope of alternative sources of borrowing and funding alike. The adoption of these fintech funding models has been somewhat slow in South Africa, but if the success of other countries' adoption of these models, particularly peer to peer lending, is anything to go by, this fintech funding model could fill the gap that currently exists in SMME funding. Data is gathered from SMMEs as well as potential investors on the usage of Online Peer to Peer lending as both a funding mechanism as well as an investment proposition. The purpose of this data gathering -- via a survey -- was to obtain Online Peer to Peer participants' views and/or perceptions about the effectiveness of online peer to peer lending, awareness of alternative (particularly fintech) funding models as well as their receptiveness to conducting financial transactions online. The survey found that the majority of entrepreneurs and investors believe that online peer to peer lending can bridge the financing gap left by traditional financing institutions in South Africa. Awareness of available fintech financing methods in South Africa is very low amongst both entrepreneurs and retails investors according to the research results in this paper. This suggests more could be done around socializing this form of financing to the general populace. The findings of the research also suggested overall that there is a viable business case for alternative financing for SMMEs in South Africa. In addition, the results of the survey indicated that the slow adoption of this fintech financing models in South Africa creates an opportunity for new fintech start-ups to participate in this market due to the low barrier to entry
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    Challenges facing small, medium and micro enterprises servicing operational wind farms in the Eastern cape, South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Maraba, Mahlatse; Young, Bruce
    Climate change has resulted in a review of how electricity is generated with the focus now being on renewable energy sources. In South Africa, this focus is facilitated by the Renewable Independent Power Producer Program (REIPPPP) which seeks to introduce an energy mix of solar, wind, biomass, and hydro into the traditional coal-dependent systems. REIPPPP promised economic benefits and some of the intended beneficiaries are Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). The purpose of this study is therefore to understand the challenges facing SMMEs in wind farms that are in the operational phase to understand if they are benefitting from REIPPPP. A qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews to obtain data from respondents offering various services to operational wind farms was employed. A sample size of 9 respondents was used to obtain this data. Applying thematic analysis to the collected data it was found that the challenges facing SMMEs are mainly due to lack of support, lack of finance, human capital, lack of policies and difficulty accessing the job market in the wind farms. All these challenges are as per Isenberg’s domains of entrepreneurship framework (Isenberg, 2010). Further themes that emerged are unfair competition SMMEs face and non-compliance issues by both the SMMEs and the wind farms. Given these challenges, SMMEs were negative towards REIPPPP. There is still a large potential for more renewable energy projects to be implemented in South Africa thus, these challenges must be well understood and addressed going forward for SMMEs to fully benefit. Some of the recommendations are for policies and regulations to be implemented by the government to ensure that SMMEs operate on a level playing field. It is foreseen that by addressing policies as a root cause, the remainder of the challenges can easily be addressed.
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    Analysis of investment opportunities available to small businesses and investment clubs in Gauteng Province
    (2020) Tanzi, Yongama
    This study investigated the factors driving investments and investment behavior by Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME) and Investment clubs in Gauteng, South Africa. The study is a qualitative study, using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with business owners and club members. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data collected. The findings reveal that there is high awareness of available investment opportunities by SMME’s and Investment clubs, but low rates of investment activity driven by fear, entrepreneurial behaviours, lack of financial literacy, coupled with a lack of trust in the economy and the banking system. The results also show that the property sector is the most preferred and well-known investment opportunity to most SMMEs. The need to encourage the development of better financial knowledge amongst black SMME and Investment club owners/members was also highlighted. It is recommended that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) provide affordable investment training for SMMEs and registered investment club members. This will help them broaden their knowledge of recent and current investment philosophy.