Northern Cape Business 2018-19 edition

OVERVIEW
Banking and financial
services
Agricultural companies have a strong suite in finance.
Most agricultural companies in the Northern Cape have
financing and services divisions, as one would expect in a
province with a strong and varied agricultural sector which
exports much of its produce. This provides real competition
for the retail banks, most of which have specialised agricultural desks.
The Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa (Land
Bank) is a major participant in the Northern Cape financial sector and
the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), as an equity investor
in companies such as Red Sun Dried Fruit (shown above), is another
important player.
The established banks have specialists in the province and dedicated
units such as Nedbank Agribusiness. Focus areas for this unit are agronomy
(grain, oil seeds, sugar and cotton), livestock (including game farming),
horticulture (fruit and vegetables, for example), and secondary agriculture
which covers agricultural processing and storage. Nedbank has a total of
27 business managers in Nedbank Business Banking for the province and
the neighbouring Free State, whose brief includes agriculture.
GWK is one of the biggest agricultural firms, with the GW standing
for Griqualand West. Despite the name, the company has its roots in the
Northern Cape province and its headquarters in the town of Douglas
near to the confluence of the Vaal and Orange rivers. GWK has six
SECTOR INSIGHTS
Capitec has entered the
insurance market.
units within its Corporate Services
division and these mostly relate
to finance: Finance, Financing,
Risk Management, and Financial
Agricultural Advice.
Farmers have a wide choice
of products to choose from: production
loans for the cultivation
of products, livestock production
loans, buyers accounts,
auction accounts and instalment
agreements for buying equipment,
vineyard establishment
and livestock.
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