Cape Town - Business Partners, a specialist risk finance company for formal SMEs and local entrepreneurs, announced that Nazeem Martin is retiring from his position as managing director and is succeeded by chief financial officer Ben Bierman.
Martin was with Business Partners for more than 18 years, eight-and-a-half of those as MD. He steered the business and industry through challenging economic times.
Martin says his years spent as MD were both interesting and challenging, primarily due to the turbulence and volatility after the global financial crisis of 2008, the 2009 recession and the subsequent protracted period of painstakingly slow economic growth.
“However, it has been extremely rewarding to be there in support of entrepreneurs to, on the one hand, help them save their businesses in trying times, and to help them start and grow their businesses on the other," said Martin.
Under Martin’s leadership, the company’s investment portfolio has grown from R1.9bn at the end of the 2008 financial year to R3.5bn in 2015. The average size of an approved deal in 2015 was approximately R2.6m.
Martin says that a highlight during his tenure as MD was the organisation's growth and expansion into Africa.
Bierman has spent more than 25 years with Business Partners and says it has become one of the leading enablers of small businesses in South Africa.
“Although economic conditions are still not ideal, there is still appetite for SME finance in South Africa and Africa at large, which is positive for economic growth and job creation on the continent. South Africa and indeed Africa has huge untapped potential, and if the drivers for growth are nurtured and sustained, SMEs can and will thrive,” says Bierman.