Association to honour SMEs
Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) will on Friday receive recognition for their excellent work at a Local Legends Awards Ceremony to be hosted by the Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Zimbabwe (SMEAZ).
The awards, being held for the second time since 2016, are given to members that have exceptionally excelled in terms of working on growing their business, SMEAZ chief executive officer Farai Mutambanengwe said.
“They are merit-based awards hinged on continuous assessment of the member’s progress in terms of working on particular aspects of their business.
“We, therefore, have award categories for issues like compliance, risk management, corporate governance, customer service, branding and so on.”
Mr Mutambanengwe said the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the prevailing general economic environment over the past few years severely affected the micro and small enterprises but 2021, had seen some respite as inflation came down from triple to doubledigit levels and there was relative stability in the environment.
“Some players within the sector have started to experience growth, although there is need for further improvement in the business environment to enable more MSMEs to thrive and grow,” Mr Mutambanengwe said.
The awards ceremony will be officiated by the Minister of Women Affairs, Community and Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Dr Sithembiso Nyoni as well as senior representatives from her ministry.
The ministry said last week that MSMEs account for roughly 60 percent of Zimbabwe’s gross domestic product and 76 percent of employment in the country.
Mr Mutambanengwe said the ministry had been their all-weather partner in efforts to assist MSMEs to grow, having provided support on issues like exemption letters during the lockdown period.
He indicated that the awards were postponed in the intervening period as they felt that there was need to first improve internal motoring systems so as to objectively pick out winners based on evidence.
“We are happy that for the second time running the ministry has agreed to partner us in this endeavour, and we look forward to continuing to work with them especially on issues highlighted in the National MSME Policy 2020 to 2024.
“We would like to see a robust, growth-oriented MSME sector emerging in Zimbabwe, rivalling the best on the continent and indeed on the globe.”
The SMEAZ provides supporting structures to enable small and medium-sized enterprises to become large cooperations.
It is a registered organisation that promotes the activities of Small and Medium Enterprises in Zimbabwe through providing support services as well as lobbying and advocacy.
SMEAZ says it aims to create such a conducive environment by bringing together the voice of countless SMEs and creating a national voice that can be taken seriously.-The Herald
