--- title: "Retail giants step in with millions of rands to help entrepreneurs on their way up" description: "Small businesses often collapse under the weight of underfunding and a lack of resources. The likes of Mr Price and Woolworths are stepping in to help." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "SMME FOCUS" author: "Kara Le Roux" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/kara-le-roux/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-06-12-retail-giants-step-in-with-millions-of-rands-to-help-entrepreneurs-on-their-way-up/" published: "2025-06-12T21:43:03" updated: "2025-06-12T21:43:05" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 565 --- # Retail giants step in with millions of rands to help entrepreneurs on their way up > Small businesses often collapse under the weight of underfunding and a lack of resources. The likes of Mr Price and Woolworths are stepping in to help. By Kara Le Roux · Published 12 June 2025, 23:43 SAST · Updated 12 June 2025, 23:43 SAST ## Key points - In a bid to transform the sobering statistic that over 70% of South Africa's small businesses flounder before their seventh birthday, Woolworths and Mr Price are stepping up with millions in funding, proving that when the going gets tough, the tough get philanthropic. - South Africa's small businesses employ 13.4 million people, yet over 70% fail within seven years, highlighting a critical need for support. - Woolworths and Mr Price are stepping up, pledging millions to empower entrepreneurship, with Woolworths launching the Inclusive Justice Institute backed by R300-million. - The Land Bank's involvement aims to enhance food security and support emerging farmers, while Mr Price's Bindzu Youth Fund offers R3-million in grants for young entrepreneurs. - With SMMEs receiving only 13% of bank credit, these corporate initiatives reflect a shift towards private sector-led solutions to bolster South Africa's struggling small business landscape. ## Content South Africa’s small businesses shoulder a heavy load, [employing](https://finmark.org.za/knowledge-hub/articles/finscope-msme-south-africa-2024-key-findings-highlight-urgent-need-for-informal-sector-support?entity=blog#) about 13.4 million people, and more than 70% of them [don’t make it](https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/ajems-06-2021-0306/full/html) past the seven-year mark. This week, Woolworths and Mr Price joined the growing queue of corporates trying to fix that, pledging millions towards entrepreneurship and empowerment. #### **The business of doing good** Woolworths is framing its new Inclusive Justice Institute as a practical demonstration of corporate empowerment, with the minister of small business development, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, endorsing it as a model for retail-led development. Backed by R300-million in funding — R200-million from Woolworths and R100-million from the Land Bank for emerging farmers — the institute will operate through two non-profit arms. One focuses on developing suppliers and the other on community programmes like food security and education. **Read more:**[SMME focus: Banks’ agripreneur programmes boost jobs from seed to shelf](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-04-23-smme-focus-how-nedbanks-green-agripreneur-programme-is-helping-emerging-farmers-move-from-soil-to-shelf/) The retailer says it increased its procurement from SMMEs by 42% to R4-billion last year, and donated R816-million worth of surplus food to under-resourced communities. Woolworths’ corporate social justice director, Zinzi Mgolodela, said: “Our support for MSMEs \[micro, small and medium enterprises\] has helped stimulate economic growth by empowering beneficiaries to create jobs and expand their businesses. “Through our NGO partnerships, we support rural and semi-urban communities to grow food and become self-sufficient, and our education initiatives have improved learning in under-resourced schools and promoted child safety**,** giving children the opportunity to thrive in safe, supportive environments.” The Land Bank’s CEO, Themba Rikhotso, said: “This initiative aligns directly with Land Bank’s mission of empowering previously disadvantaged communities and to increase the inclusion of emerging farmers in the commercial agricultural sector, thereby enhancing the country’s long-term food security.” #### **Fishing for hustlers under 35** Meanwhile, Mr Price’s Bindzu Youth Fund offers black and youth-owned businesses the chance to apply for R3-million in grant funding, spread across bootcamp training, mentorship and seed capital. The retailer’s efforts seem to be focused on the right goal. Data from [FinScope](https://finmark.org.za/knowledge-hub/articles/finscope-msme-south-africa-2024-key-findings-highlight-urgent-need-for-informal-sector-support?entity=blog#) indicate that 30% of SMME owners are under the age of 35. **Read more:**[35 trailblazers under 35](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/35-trailblazers-under-35/) To qualify, applicants must have been operating for at least 12 months, be between the ages of 18 and 34, and earn less than R5-million in annual turnover. The foundation says the goal is to help young entrepreneurs cross the resource chasm, which kills most early startups. “The country has no shortage of young minds with bright ideas and business know-how,” said the foundation. “So, although training and mentorship have been foundational to the success of young entrepreneurs, a greater need lies in real resources, and the willingness to release these resources to the youth.” The closing date to[apply to the Mr Price Foundation](http://url2347.mediamanager.co.za/ls/click?upn=u001.0FQGIiTMqXRwMBKuXvlsdq1SoiKLDWCEmpaqGHWXA7rBh6SD5gxpw-2B1-2FezLDX6dJyaBj_3gofQyDeUHoLDV-2BC-2F70knHUrpUzJYifel5plo1gXuIQJV9GHFZ63Gu4E7dw4i2cx88G7QtCsXbCwsfnyQodl0sFF5JD5owxc7VqIE3kZ-2FpkR3iizjMYVxHAttG7Qnleqxpi6fVN8FZvOCTgKKFP5Wim4hZJbLMnMbHgEQAef1pB6PXIiogUAfPqPyY2B8L2YAs91Eq6pnnD9dCHBzbRGkjVp0j-2FICfo7x-2F0oyzYTyeMxwKjM27QuMXzVN4hEqNf-2BQdSCzsnVAMMu8lG3YxHomw-3D-3D)is 30 June. #### **Credit desert** According to the Tips State of Small Business in South Africa 2024 report, SMMEs secure considerably less external funding than large corporations. They receive a paltry 13% of total bank credit. Corporations gobble up 51%, while regular consumer clients get 36%, which leaves small enterprises starved of working capital. **Read more:**[Small business, big problems — SA’s entrepreneurs still face uphill battle](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-06-09-small-business-big-problems-sas-entrepreneurs-still-face-uphill-battle/) The Woolworths and Mr Price programmes signal that retailers are no longer content to just manage supply chains but want to manufacture credibility. With government interventions slow and often mired in inefficiency, the private sector is positioning itself as both rescuer and reinforcer of South Africa’s SMME ecosystem. **DM**