Corporate Governance

In compliance with the highest standards of integrity:

IDC is a registered development public finance institution established in terms of the Industrial Development Corporation Act (Act No 22, 1940 as amended ( the “IDC Act”).
The IDC Board of Directors subscribes to the need to conduct the IDC’s business with integrity and in accordance with generally accepted corporate practices as contained in the King II Report.
The Directors also subscribe fully to the principles embodied in appropriate international corporate governance codes and strive to align the Corporation’s corporate governance with national and international best practice.
The IDC is also subject to the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act (Act No 1 of 1999) (“the PFMA”), which deals with the best practice in financial management focusing mainly on outputs and responsibilities of State-owned Entities.
The IDC is committed to the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct and open to and transparent governance that gives its Shareholder and other stakeholders the assurance that it is being managed ethically in line with the best practice, applicable legislation and predetermind risk parameters.
The South African Government is our sole Shareholder.
Our Annual Report is presented to Parliament and is available to the public, on request.

Good Corporate Governance forms the basis of all our decision-making and monitoring processes and we subscribe to the highest standards of integrity in all our dealings.

Board of Directors. The Corporation has a unitary Board of Directors, appointed by the Department of Trade and Industry. It represents many sectors of our economy and has the authority to approve new application finance and expenditure of capital, which fall outside approved limits and policies as well as the ones that have significant strategy corporate implications.

Special Credit Committee. The Committee’s membership comprises members of Executive Management and is chaired by the Chief Executive Officer. The main purpose of this committee is to consider large transactions that are in line with policies and limits.

Credit Committee. This committee consist of the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Economist, the Chief Risk Officer, General Counsel, all the Divisional Executives and any external committee members that EXCO may from time to time decide to appoint. This committee is authorised to approve medium finance application that are in line with policies and limits.

Governance and Ethics Committee “GEC” (formerly Director’s Interest Committee). The main purpose of this committee, is to advise the Board generally on corporate governance and ethics matters by promoting ideals of corporate fairness, transparency and accountability as well as to assist the Board in vetting funding applications, projects and any matter in which a director of the IDC has an interest.

Human Capital and Nomination Committee (formerly Board Human Resources and Remuneration Committee). The main purpose of this committee is to assist the Board in the development of compensation policies, plans, and performance goals as well as specific compensation levels of the IDC. And also assists the Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities relating to succession planning as well as overall compensation and human resource policies for all IDC employees.

Board Audit Committee. The overall objectives of this committee is to assist the Board in discharging its duties relating to the safeguarding of assets, the operation of adequate systems, control, procedures and the preparation of accurate financial reporting and statements in compliance with all legal requirements and accounting standards.

Development and Innovation Committee (formerly Board Technical Committee). This is to assist the Board of Directors in considering sectoral research papers and strategies and making recommendations on a high level approach and to assess project proposals and investment opportunities of a technical nature in terms of pre-feasibility, feasibility and implementation.

Board Risk Management Committee. The main purpose of this committee is to assist the Board of Directors in discharging its duties relating to the identification of key risk areas and key performance indicators in the Industrial Development Corporation.

Key Principles

Caring for the environment

We support the South African Government’s environmental policies and integrate them into all our activities by:

Encouraging compliance from all our applicants.
Considering the impact of all proposed agricultural, forestry, industrial, mining and tourism projects.
Promoting the use of renewable resources and environmentally friendly products.
Using non-renewable resources responsibly.
Measuring and managing the environmental impact of projects we are involved with.

Shareholder Engagement

The Board approved the shareholder engagement and proxy voting guidelines towards the introduction of a more formalised and consistent approach to shareholder engagement between the IDC and its investee companies. And also this is aimed at outlining the IDC’s position on various matters relating to corporate governance and its expectations from its investee companies as a good corporate citizen.

Procurement

In the IDC it ensures the efficient, effective, economic and uniform procurement of goods and services required for the functioning of the IDC while adhering to the Industrial Development Act and all relevant legislation as required by the government of South Africa, e.g. Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA), the National Industrial Participation Programme (NIPP), the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act (BBBEE) and the Codes of Good Practice. It also ensures the IDC’s objective of supporting corporate and professional entities owned by blacks (as defined by the B-BBEE Act of 2003) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is adhered to.

Skills development

The IDC is particularly focused on financing small and medium enterprises and have established a business training school – The IDC Academy – to assist the development of historically disadvantaged people in this.