Key Success Factors in the attainment of funds for the implementation of Renewable Energy solutions for SMMEs in South Africa

One of the key factors for reducing South Africa's reliance on fossil fuels and in addition, addressing the energy crisis and accelerate economic growth, is to ensure rapid and meaningful adoption of Renewable Energies. The need to have an inclusive approach requires that SMMEs, which are the backbone of the economy and contribute a large percentage of the Carbon Footprint (Alam et al., 2002) are not left behind in this transition. The South African National Development Plan approximates that 90% of the 11 million jobs are expected to come from the estimated 3.2 million SMMEs and 43,062 Co-operatives (DSBD, 2023). Access to funding has been identified as one of the biggest barriers for SMMEs (in general business and in RE transition in particular) for participation, with many other challenges such as inadequate understanding of financial products, lack of government incentives, and other institutional barriers (Nxele and Hoque, 2022). It is, therefore, critical to gain an understanding of the factors that determine successful attainment of funds and how these can be implemented to assist South African SMMEs in securing funding and successfully transitioning towards sustainable energy solutions.