Half year check-list for business owners The half-time break for a sports match offers a crucial few minutes for both the coach and players to review and tweak their game plan, and in a similar way, business owners should view the half-way mark of the year no differently. This is according to Gerrie van Biljon, executive director of Business Partners Limited, a specialist risk finance company for formal small and medium enterprises (SMEs), who ...

Business Partners International (BPI), a specialist fund management company providing financing, specialist sectoral knowledge and technical assistance support to viable small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in select African countries, has announced the launch of the US $10 million Business Partners International Malawi SME Fund aimed at providing risk finance to local entrepreneurs and SMEs. Key investors of the fund include the IFC (Internationa...

A 50 basis point hike in interest rates in January, with the possibility of further hikes during the course of the year, increasing fuel costs and rising inflation dampened the first quarter of 2014 growth prospects of small and medium enterprises (SME) in South Africa when compared to the last quarter of 2013. This is according to the 2014 first quarter Business Partners Limited SME Index (BPLSI), which measures attitudes and confidence levels a...

Business Partners International (BPI), a subsidiary of Business Partners Limited and the fund management company which supports the growth of viable small and medium businesses (SMEs) in sub-Saharan Africa, has raised $30 million for its Business Partners Southern Africa SME Fund. This fund will provide risk finance to local entrepreneurs and SMEs in Malawi, Namibia and Zambia. It was launched to meet the growing demand for access to finance and ...

Stepping out from a corporate environment into a new entrepreneurial venture can be daunting, especially for younger entrepreneurs, as by doing so, they are leaving behind a steady pay check, the social office environment, as well as the security of having a team of colleagues to seek advice and assurance from. It is equally daunting for young people to step out from the security of a university or technical college into the often lonely and unc...