The unit, named 2010 SWC Business Funding, will aim to provide various types of funding, such as working capital, guarantees and secured contract funding, to medium and large businesses which hope to take up some of the many opportunities on offer in the run-up to, and during, the event, says head of the unit Sicelo Sikakane.

"For example, a company may require some working capital because it suddenly needs to double its staff and other resources to fulfil a contract, or a client may require a guarantee before a company will be appointed as a service provider or awarded some other form of contract."

The Development Bank of Southern Africa will facilitate finance for infrastructure, an area in which they have expertise, and the Department of Trade and Industry?s Khula fund will specifically assist small companies in need of loans for less than a million rands,? says Sikakane.