South African manufacturers have mastered one skill better than almost anything else…
Spending millions of rands on new machinery before asking whether government would have helped pay for it🙈ðŸ˜
It’s a bit like buying a house and only afterwards asking if you qualified for a better home loan.
One of the grants that continues to fly under the radar is the Agro-Processing Support Scheme (APSS).
For qualifying agro-processors, it can provide a 20%–30% reimbursable grant, capped at R20 million, towards investments such as:
– Machinery and equipment
– Renewable energy and resource-efficient technology
– Buildings
– Commercial vehicles
– Production software and quality management systems
– Tools, jigs and dies
Of course, there are qualifying criteria:
– Level 1–4 B-BBEE
– Tax compliant
– Local procurement requirements
– Maintaining employment
But there is one requirement that catches companies out more than any other:
The application must be submitted before you place orders for the new assets.
I’ve had more conversations than I can count that start with:
“We’ve already paid the deposit… can we still apply?”
Unfortunately, by then it’s often too late.
So, if your business is planning to expand over the next year or two, it may be worth asking one simple question before signing the purchase order:
“Is there a grant available for this?”
Sometimes that five-minute conversation can be worth millions.
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