The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has granted a total of R2.3bn in the form of loans and R562m as equity financing to black industrialists‚ Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said Monday.

This brought the corporation’s total commitment to the black industrialists programme — one of the pillars of government’s drive to radically transform the ownership and control of the economy — to R3.3bn.

Patel provided the information in a written reply to a parliamentary question by Democratic Alliance spokesman on economic development Michael Cardo. The minister noted that the IDC funding covered 81 investments across a range of different sectors.

Grant funding is also provided by the Department of Trade and Industry‚ which had approved about R577m in grants for 27 projects by mid-February.

The National Empowerment Fund‚ the Public Investment Corporation and the Land Bank are also involved in financing the programme.

The Department of Trade and Industry plans to accelerate the black industrialist programme this year in order to achieve 100 projects by the end of 2017-18. Originally it had a target of 30 projects per year for the first two years‚ starting March 2016‚ and 40 projects in the third year — bringing the three-year total to 100.

President Jacob Zuma has hailed the programme as being “critical” to the radical transformation required to deracialise ownership and control of the economy.