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“We need to gain a better understaanding on the regulatory side in the green technology and renewables sector. It is critically important that we clarify the local regulatory framework and give investors the confidence and incentive to enter the South African market. The impact of us understanding that marketplace and the competencies of South African businesses means that we can increase our exports significantly.”

“The fact that TFSA is very cognisant of gender is really a hugely exciting part of the programme. There is the prospect of real benefits to women in trade, including rural women. If this programme has an impact on alleviating poverty by bringing more women into the value chains, offering them a better lifestyle, then that is a massive positive effect.”

"This process we undertook with TFSA of looking at what is needed to enter the European market has been a real eye opener for us, it really helped us highlight where our gaps are in terms of compliance with regulations and standards. Now we have something constructive to work towards.”

“The aquaculture sector in Mozambique is very small and under-developed. TFSA is working with AMAQUA and other associations and organisations to put in some foundational blocks and build the value chain from there – none of this really exists, we pretty much have to build it all from scratch.”

”What was amazing about the presentation was the plethora of information that Rob from TFSA presented. You know, when someone gives something for free, and you know how valuable it is, it almost seems impossible to believe."

“Thank you for the role you played as a speaker/presenter at the 1st Nelson Mandela Women in Business Export Development Workshop held on 8 March 2022. The information you shared was of great value to participants and assisted them with broadening their understanding of export market/environment as well as how they could form part of your different export training programmes.”

“The work we’re doing with TFSA support is helpful to our organisation and to fulfil our main goal of empowering women in trade, to capacitate them with different skills and knowledge related to entrepreneurship. So this is really helpful to us, I’m really happy to see the impact on women in trade in Lesotho. When we see women empowered through different means, it’s our organisation’s dream being met."

“The HACCP training is really helping my business, putting the GMP into practice. Even when we talk to potential suppliers, just mentioning that we’re undergoing HACCP training makes people look at us in a different way, as in ‘these people know what they’re talking about, they’re doing the necessary steps for export.”

“Before sending the products to the lab for testing, I was advised on how to tweak the formula for one of my products. This was really helpful, because it meant I could make a few corrections before sending it off to the lab, and not waste the time and effort.”

“I received support on formulation checking for two of my products that I had some issues with. They suggested a few tweaks to the formulation which solved the problems. I also had another three tested at the lab. This was very useful, not just the savings on costs, but also the assurance you get when the products go through a lab like Cape Aloe, and you know things are done correctly and will meet EU market standards. I’ve had to redo tests in the past because they were not done correctly according to standard requirements.”

“TFSA has been imperative in increasing our farmers’ understanding of markets. They have no problems farming, but they just leave their produce with the processors and have very little knowledge of what happens after that point. Through training and site visits, we have helped improve this understanding: the challenges of logistics, why a vendor might ask you to mark your produce in a certain way."

“We were very happy with the promotional video and photographs, and we have had a positive social media response on b2b platforms, especially with potential distributors, installers and end-clients. The video has helped showcase operations of Solar MD in South Africa and created positive brand exposure abroad and has led to positive conversion rates especially in Western Europe as we have a Solar MD subsidiary in Bulgaria."

“Having TFSA fund this work, it is a win across the board. For Textile Exchange, it’s very much of value. We all knew about it and that we had to do it, but TE don’t have capacity. Immediately, when this opportunity arose, they were ‘this is so aligned to what we do, so happy for some of our time to support this work’. It’s been very unforeseen benefit, having me working on both sides, we’ve been using that link immensely to make sure certification is aligned. And what is very important, if we can get it right in Lesotho, we can use this model in SA with our community farmers, and in other countries as well with these nomadic communal systems."