While small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute up to 40% of GDP and account for about 60% of employment in South Africa, significant capital allocated to SME funding remains underutilised each year, says nonprofit organisation National Small Business Chamber (NSBC) Africa CEO Mike Anderson.

He confirms that, to address this, the organisation will soon launch a national funding-readiness platform designed to unlock billions of rands in underutilised SME capital.

This will address what industry leaders describe as the country’s real funding constraint: deal quality and not a shortage of capital.

Anderson explains South Africa does not have a funding shortage but a readiness shortage. “Too many SMEs approach lenders before they are properly prepared,” he says.

The new platform, ‘Access to Finance – Funding. Fast. Simple’, is designed to shift the focus from application volume to funding readiness. Instead of encouraging more submissions, the initiative prepares SMEs before they approach lenders to structure their financials, clarify their credit positioning and align funding requests with appropriate capital providers.  

Credit protection agency TransUnion Africa CEO Lee Naik agrees that improving credit clarity is central to unlocking responsible growth and that too many SMEs remain excluded from funding owing to funding readiness.

“The real gap is credit visibility and financial clarity. At TransUnion, we see how the combination of education, transparency and smarter risk assessment can move an entrepreneur from ‘high risk’ to ‘highly investable’.

When SMEs are empowered to build credible credit profiles and lenders use richer data to recognise opportunities more accurately, we can responsibly expand access to finance, unlock jobs and drive inclusive economic growth,” Naik states.

For TransUnion Africa and NSBC Africa, sustainable SME growth is a shared responsibility and one of the most powerful levers South Africa has to strengthen its economic future.

By improving deal quality and reducing origination friction, the NSBC Africa platform aims to shorten funding decision timelines and activate capital already available within the financial system – without requiring new funding pools.

“If we improve readiness at scale, we don’t just unlock funding - we unlock jobs, growth and long-term economic stability,” Anderson concludes.