|
Press release
Funding partnership to bridge the gap between tenders and delivery
A unique R200 million funding partnership to support small and emerging contractors that have won tenders from either the public or private sector was announced today in Cape Town. Futuregrowth Asset Management has joined with NURCHA, a construction services and funding organisation to provide bridging finance and management support to these contractors. The contracts eligible for the bridging finance will be for the development of local infrastructure and community facilities such as clinics, roads, storm water drains, police stations, magistrate courts and schools.
NURCHA is specifically geared to help contractors who cannot easily access finance from conventional institutions. NURCHA’s partnership with Futuregrowth will provide bridging finance for contractors with contracts of R1 million or more in value.
The innovative partnership is fully endorsed by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and Minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, and it will finance contractors for the next five and half years with a view to extending the partnership beyond this period. The sort of contracts that could benefit from the funding facility would be those awarded for the development of infrastructure and community facilities in various locations around the country.
NURCHA was founded in 1994 as a Development Finance Institution (DFI) operating in the arena of subsidised housing, affordable housing and infrastructural development. Its main aim is to ensure that individual projects are professionally undertaken and successfully completed while ensuring that the contractors make a profit and develop a sustainable path for their businesses. This is done through interventions such as helping the contractor with budgeting and project management oversight as well as the funding. NURCHA has in the past received funding from the Soros Economic Development Fund and the Department of Human Settlements.
In announcing the new partnership Futuregrowth Credit Analyst Paul Semple said, "Futuregrowth is effective in partnering with organisations on the ground that bring expertise to infrastructure and development projects in South Africa. By joining with NURCHA in this way we are effectively supporting a growing industry of emerging contractors.
"The key objective here is to create a mechanism for market related returns aligned with emerging contractors who have been awarded contracts in the normal course of business but who struggle with delivery because of constraints of working capital or management skills.” added Semple.
While Futuregrowth has a long relationship with NURCHA, having been its first private sector funder in 1996, this is the first time that NURCHA has utilised gearing with funds from institutional investors for such infrastructure projects. The move is considered critical for the long-term sustainability of the organisation. Jill Strelitz, Director of Business Development at NURCHA said, “without the investment from Futuregrowth, this highly successful bridging finance programme would have to have been terminated. Now with the Futuregrowth investment, NURCHA will have the capacity to grow the infrastructure and community facility lending programme to double its size.”
It is estimated by Futuregrowth that this facility could support in excess of R5 billion in total project values over the 66 month duration of the facility. Futuregrowth Asset Management will be the primary funder in this partnership with a 70/30 split in funding between itself and NURCHA who will subordinate their capital to Futuregrowth.
“The balance between investors' security and returns is a carefully managed relationship,” added Semple “and the loan finance will yield a risk-adjusted return in an environment that is specifically structured to constantly manage the credit risk and performance of these loans”.
The diversity of development projects that will be financed through this programme is reflected in the first three loans that have been signed. These are for the construction of a bus-route road in Umzimkulu municipality in KwaZulu-Natal (R10,7 million), the construction of a reservoir in Tshwane (R28,9 million) and a road upgrade in a central business district of Port St Johns, Eastern Cape (R23,4 million).
Over the last five years, NURCHA has provided loans worth almost R400 million to 218 contractors for infrastructural and community facility projects alone. The total project values for these contracts amount to around R4 billion.
“This facility is real break-through in enabling our retirement fund clients to invest in on-the-ground service delivery,” said Andrew Canter, Futuregrowth’s Chief Investment Officer.
ends.
Issued on behalf of Futuregrowth Asset Management (Pty) Ltd by HWB Communications (Pty) Ltd
Media queries:
Wayne Lowe
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
072 218 6852
Queries to Futuregrowth:
Michele Usher
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
021 659 5459
Queries to NURCHA
Jill Strelitz
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
011 214 8700
|
|
Press Release
NURCHA realigns with intermediaries Tusk and Sebra
Development financier, NURCHA, is consolidating its relationship with its two intermediaries, Tusk and Sebra, to form a joint venture with a single NURCHA brand that will draw on the strengths of all three companies and offer better co-ordinated and more efficient operations.
The venture seeks to promote growth as well as the improved use of scarce, skilled human resources in this sector.
To mark the realignment and the launch of the new-look NURCHA, the company will open its first joint office with its intermediaries in East London on 15 April 2009.
Each of the companies has a vital role to play in the venture, bringing to the table critical knowledge, experience and understanding of their respective fields.
As a development financier, NURCHA lends to established and emerging contractors for subsidy housing, and community facilities and infrastructure. It also provides finance to more established builders and is currently developing a lending programme aimed at emerging contractors involved in affordable housing projects.
NURCHA sets the credit policies, monitors lending compliance, authorises draw downs in terms of loan agreements, manages relationships with government and the funders and leads the marketing effort. It also monitors the health of the loan book, the recovery of bad debt and, undertakes legal action where necessary.
The two intermediaries, Tusk and Sebra, are responsible for the origination and administration of emerging contractors’ loans, and the day to day support of contractors and project risk management.
These roles include assessing projects, arranging for the signing of loan agreements, managing contractors’ progress payments, paying material suppliers, monitoring payments from the employer, monitoring cash flow, pursuing late payments, bad debt collection and project troubleshooting.
Tusk will manage loans to contractors for infrastructure and community facilities, while Sebra will administer loans for subsidy housing.
The joint venture better positions NURCHA to offer clients a broad range of services that encompasses all these areas, under one roof. It also promotes more efficient, co-ordinated operations and provides the company with a national presence.
The venture further secures the relationship between the three companies and works to reduce confusion in the marketplace caused by contractors and employers dealing with both NURCHA and its intermediaries.
As part of the realignment, intermediary offices will be rebranded as NURCHA offices. These branches will be staffed, managed and funded by the intermediaries, but will trade as part of the NURCHA Group. As such, they will also offer a complete set of NURCHA products and services.
NURCHA operates out of its head office in Johannesburg, while Tusk is based in Centurion, Gauteng and Sebra in Bloemfontein, Free State. The intermediaries have a growing network of regional offices in the Eastern and Western Cape, Limpopo and KwaZulu Natal. The rebranding exercise will be rolled out to all these branches, beginning with Tusk’s new East London office.
There will be a progressive blending of the two intermediaries into the overarching NURCHA brand.
Soon, the contractors will be dealing with a single entity (the NURCHA joint venture) which will service both their loan and support needs, while only paying a single fee for these services.
Whistleblowers at NURCHA 
In the light of the alarming corporate crime statistics reported in surveys recently, every organisation has the need to adopt a pro-active approach in combating corporate crime and to make sure that their company does not become a victim of corporate crime. Fraud and corruption have a serious impact on the service delivery required by the nation, with subsequent harmful effects on economic growth and investment in South Africa. NURCHA has introduced a fraud-prevention hotline facility whereby employees have access to a hotline to independently and anonymously report cases of fraud and dishonesty, and cases of unethical behaviour in line with NURCHA’s code of ethics and the value system. The hotline is also accessible to contractors, developers, intermediaries and other stakeholders who would like to anonymously report unethical behaviour in relation to NURCHA staff or NURCHA projects.
The hotline is managed by an independent service provider. Calls are answered live by multilingual operators, 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days of the year. No calls are answered by an answering machine. All calls are taped
for operational purposes and future reference, but callers who would like to remain anonymous are guaranteed complete
anonymity. Tapes remain the property of the service provider and will never be accessed by NURCHA.
Reporting can be done in the following manner:
- By telephoning a free call number: 0800 212 602
- By using e-mail address:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
- By post to: PO Box 51006, Musgrave, 4062
- By facsimile to: 086 5222 816
- Via the service provider’s website: www.whistleblowing.co.za
Grace Bible Church
 Construction of various extensions to the Grace Bible Church in Pimville Soweto, are almost complete.
The total project value amounted to R25 million with a loan value of R19 million. This loan was the largest loan issued at the time, and represented a new level of bridging finance under the Infrastructure and Community Facilities established contractors programme.
The loan for the project was approved in December 2006 and construction of the extensions was started immediately. The contractors are Inkanyeli Projects Pty Ltd.
The project has run relatively smoothly, but has exceeded the original completion date by some 5 months. This is due to an excessively high water table that was only discovered when the foundations were dug. In addition, specialised items such as tiered seating had to be custom made and procured.
 The project is expected to be finally completed at the end of March 2008. NURCHA’s involvement in this project was higher than normal in that the programme manager attended all site meetings and got involved in monthly certification of all the completed works.
Inkanyeli Projects has since been negotiating with NURCHA for further bridging finance, this time for affordable housing projects.
NHLS TB Reference Laboratory
 In another first, NURCHA has become involved in financing the construction of the TB reference laboratory in Sandringham, for the National Health Laboratory Services, which provides laboratory and diagnostic services to the South African Public Health Care System.
The TB reference laboratory will play an important role in maintaining standards in the treatment of drug resistant Tuberculosis, and will serve as a centre of excellence for laboratory training, research and quality assurance in combating one of South Africa’s worst health care problems.
The project is being managed by Tusk, a NURCHA intermediary, who was approached by up-and-coming construction company Redinare Construction Pty Ltd for a bridging finance loan of some R3.9 million for the R 19.4 million project.
The project was approved in October 2007 and construction began immediately. The expected completion date is June 2008 and all indications are that this deadline will be met.
N3 pedestrian bridge
 The variety of projects financed by NURCHA is increasing. The latest infrastructure/ community facilities project brought to NURCHA by Tusk is a pedestrian bridge in the Vosloorus/ Spruitview area over the N3 highway.
The project began in September 2007 by Redinare Construction and the total project and loan value are R3.3 million and R1.32 million respectively. Tusk, as NURCHA’s intermediary will manage the financing of the project and provide valuable construction support services.
The bridge will be built in sections. Three supporting columns have been erected – two leaning in from the ends, and a centre upright column. These have been cast in situ and closer to completion ramps will be added to allow for pedestrian access. The two spans that join the leaning columns to the centre column have been cast separately on site and will be lifted into place when they have “cured”. This curing takes 28 days and each span is then engineer approved before it can be moved into place. Each span weighs 70 tons and will be placed across the columns by a 90 tone crane! The tolerance allowed is only 10 mm so absolute precision is needed in all aspects of the construction of the bridge.
Hillside security village
 Hillside security village in Mamelodi is a first for South Africa. After extensive research, Cosmopolitan Projects Tshwane has developed this unique concept to meet the evolving needs of rapidly growing middle class.
Hillside security village is a proclaimed township with electricity capacity already secured. It is situated in Mahube Valley, east of Pretoria and is in close proximity to major road links to Pretoria and Witbank, Vista University, and Mahube shopping centre.
Rapid economic growth, new commercial and industrial expansion and growing BEE companies have all increased the earning capacity of ordinary South Africans. The emigration of professionals, managers and skilled labourers from major cities in South Africa to Gauteng has led to this rapid growth of the middle class, who are influenced by social trends in lifestyle and security, with housing a top priority. This in turn has increased demand for affordable security developments and Cosmopolitan has responded with this unique project.
 The project consists of full title units, including lifestyle facilities like a community centre and park with play area as well as a crèche. Ranging from 55 sq metres to 75 sq metres, each unit consists of 2 or 3 bedrooms with a secured carport or garage. Quality finishes include ceramic tiles and carpets, 4 plate stove, oven and built-in cupboards.
The security aspects include an electrified perimeter fence, guard patrols, an alarm system in each house with panic buttons linked to a 24 hour armed response, controlled access, burglar bars and security gates.
|
