Patel to IDC: risk more in jobs drive

The Industrial Development Corporation has created about 19000 new jobs and saved about 4000 jobs in the past year, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said yesterday.

"The IDC is an important national asset and has a unique mandate to industrialise South Africa," Patel said at the release of the IDC's financial performance report in Johannesburg.

"Under difficult market conditions the corporation has remained profitable and maintained an approval rate of R13-billion."

Jobs created range from filmmaking to manufacturing to agri-processing.

Patel said the IDC had grasped the importance of job creation. The minister welcomed the IDC's results, pointing out it had almost doubled its achievements over four years.

Since 2009 the IDC's total assets rose from R89-billion to R127-billion, growth of 43%.

The IDC had also invested R45-billion in projects in the past four years in the form of equity or loans.

"This is a very significant injection of investment funds into the economy, expanding the country's industrial base and creating jobs," he said.

It had made a profit of R10-billion in the past four years.

"If we are to maintain high and growing rate approvals the IDC has to increase its risk appetite," he said.

The IDC was playing a key role in the national infrastructure roll-out. Infrastructure development was the heart of economic development, Patel said. A corridor was being built between the Northern Cape and Saldanha which would enable South Africa to unlock opportunities in the gas and oil sector on the west coast.