There are several alternative sources of financing. For example, the Industrial Development Corporation provides financing for capital and other types of exports. The Small Enterprise Development Agency (seda) assists in finding financing for small businesses and there is no reason why this should not include small exporters. Various regional development agencies provide financing for local firms and you might want to consider these.

Getting buyers and suppliers to help

Do not loose site of the possibility of the buyer helping to finance the sale. To begin with the buyer (particularly when buying capital goods) may be prepared to out down a deposit to help finance the deal. In addition, they may be prepared to make periodic progress payments based on a third-party report or some other confirmation that certain agreed-upon percentages of the project have been completed.

Similarly, your suppliers may be willing to extend credit to you if you can assure them of the export deal. The credit you receive from your suppliers will certainly help in financing the project, although they will expect some reward for assisting you in this way (usually in the form of a higher payment or interest charge on the value of the goods they supply you).

Using export intermediaries to help finance your exports

If you are a small exporter and simply cannot find the money to finance your export project, you could turn to an export agent or an export trading house (also referred to as export trading companies) to help you. In this instance, they would probably take over the deal completely and may simply pay you for the goods which they would then sell to the importer making whatever mark-up they choose (even though you may have made the effort to find the customer). If financing is required, they may be in a better position to obtain the financing required to cover the export sale, but they would expect a substantial reward for their involvement and your profits are likely to be cut quite substantially.