Ithala

Who is Ithala? The Ithala Development Finance Corporation is a company that manages all the business activities that cover a group of business finances and financial and property services throughout KwaZulu-Natal.

Their vision at Ithala is to be a motivation for other businesses in the growth and economic development of the country through their services offered.

Empowering the economy

Ithala's core values in the industry are to show respect to all its clients and partners at all times as well as to innovate through their interactions and the requests that come their way.

Customer satisfaction is at the heart of all these values, as they are driven by positive results and happy customers. Ithala aims to empower those both internally and externally through equitable employment practice.

Striving to provide support 

• Ithala takes their financial resources to mobilise them through providing supportive services to all individuals of KwaZulu-Natal.
• They plan and follow through with the execution of the implementation of projects and programmes in the province
• Promote and encourage the growth of human resources along with its social, financial, and physical infrastructure
• Promote the private sector investment in KZN and also the active participation of the private sector through community organisations and programmes. Also contributing to the growth of economic development
• Act as an agent for performing any development-related tasks and responsibilities that the Government would deem most effective for the performance of a corporate entity

At Ithala, their core business focus is to offer financial and supportive services through a number of product support groupings.

These groupings contain the holistic business spectrum, which incorporates all service industries, manufacturing, trade, retail, tourism, and hospitality.

Types of product grouping

Product groupings at Ithala include finance of the following: commercial asset finance, agriculture and agro-processing, structured, commercial property, procurement, and business micro-finance.

Difference between term loans and a revolving facility 

1. Term loans fund the operational requirements of a project. The maximum term available for this product is 36 months. Where funding is concerned, this short-term loan will be in line with the usefulness of the business’s cash flow.
2. Whereas, the revolving facility offers microfinance to those that continually require funding for different projects at different times. Should businesses require the withdrawal of funds at intermittent periods of the project, it can be done with a fixed cap.

The reason why the revolving option is considered for businesses is that your business will benefit from not having to reapply via a loan application each time you need funds. The term of this option is a maximum of 12 months, however, should an alternative term suit you better, it can be adjusted to suit the business.