Outgoing CEO and president Khaya Ngqula said at a recent presentation of the group's results that developing black businesses remained a key part of its strategic development.

The IDC saw the number of black companies it funded rise from 26% to 53%, and the value of approvals increase from 19% to 35%, in the year to June.

Ngqula, who is leaving to head South African Airways, said the IDC was broadening the ambit of its development activities.

This was evident in its encouragement of economic development in historically black residential areas .

With about half of SA's population still living in townships, making them a "viable" place for people to do business would increase the quality of life they could offer, he said.

The average township resident spends about 30% of income on transport. Working in the township could greatly increase a person's disposable income.

Ngqula said there was "no bigger public works project than transforming the 10 biggest townships".

The IDC is now in the process of creating development agencies for townships along the same lines as the ones it has developed for rural municipalities.

These agencies would support projects leading to an improvement in the quality of life in a township, said the IDC's head of agency development and support, Stuart Bartlett .

Bartlett said the IDC planned to create about 34 agencies 10 for townships that would have a total budget of R250m.

He said townships had not been designed around economic opportunities, pointing out that as much as 80% of the income of Soweto residents was not spent in the township.

While the development corporation would fund the agencies, they would fall under the control of municipalities.

Bartlett said although the policy framework governing the structure of the agencies was still being developed, Soweto had already applied for one.

The IDC has started to fund poverty relief in innovative ways, such as a project to reintroduce Nguni cattle into Eastern Cape.

The R7,4m-project will see rural farmers become recognised breeders of pedigree Nguni cattle for the export market.

About 40000 head of cattle in communal areas of Eastern Cape would be upgraded to Nguni status, with the long-term goal of developing a lucrative international niche market for organically produced Nguni beef that was free of added chemicals, hormones and antibiotics.

The IDC funds would be paid back over five years .