WOMEN Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Monica Mutsvangwa has called for idle factories to be repurposed and refurbished to provide decent workspaces for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and other businesses.
Speaking after a tour of the Maker Space Innovation Hub at the Bulawayo SMEs Centre yesterday, the Minister said MSMEs were very critical to the economy.
“In our country and in many countries, MSMEs have become the pulse of the economy. Manufacturing has become one of the biggest contributors to the gross domestic product (GDP) of this country.
“In total, the SMEs are contributing more than 60 percent to the GDP of this country. So, when we found a place like this, which infrastructure was really not being used, as a Ministry working together with our development partners, this place was refurbished.
“International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations (UN) Women came on board to make sure that we provide a decent work space for our women MSMEs,” she said.
She said the women MSMEs were working very hard and managing to get orders from schools, hospitals and other companies.
Minister Mutsvangwa commended the women for utilising the specialised equipment to make high-quality products such as embroidery school wear and corporate wear, among others.
“So, all these women are here because we have really come up with this compartment to make sure that everyone can put food on the table and they are also employing other people as MSMEs, creating employment,” she added.
“They are taking the youths away from the streets, those who do not have jobs, who would end up taking drugs and substance abuse, they are now being employed here. As a Ministry, the Government of Zimbabwe and the Second Republic, we support such initiatives. When the President talks about leaving no one and no place behind, that is precisely what is happening here.”
The Minister called for infrastructure lying idle to be repurposed and refurbished for more women MSMEs who are looking for decent workspace.
She said creating compartments could ensure more MSMEs are able to work in a decent place and be able to meet the order targets they have.
“We will continue to work with and ask the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion to work with us, as well as the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, so that we identify all this idle infrastructure in the city of Bulawayo and other cities to convert them to decent workspaces such as this one,” she said.
Minister Mutsvangwa said such spaces ensure people work effectively and more productively.
She said the policy of the Government and President Mnangagwa was to champion gender equality and women empowerment.
“The President has personally signed a high-level political compact ending violence against women and children and other harmful practices. He has put in a lot of policies, as we can see, deliberate policies to make sure that there’s gender equality.
“No one can lead a country and leave behind 52 percent of the population. We all know that when we empower a woman, we would have empowered that family, eventually empowering a community and having an empowered citizen who then makes it possible for us to reach Vision 2030,” she said.
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The Minister said the Maker Space was playing a critical role in making sure that manufacturing meets standards, with manufacturing in this country contributing approximately 15 percent to the GDP, mostly coming from MSMEs.
Ms Charity Dhliwayo said the centre supports and amplifies the capacity of women-led textile businesses in Bulawayo.
“The new Maker Space Innovation Hub is a significant milestone in economically empowering women. We are utilising the facility to innovate and improve the quality of our products with cutting-edge machinery. This will go a long way to foster creativity, collaboration and skill development among us as women in the textile industry,” she said.
She said the development was a demonstration of the commitment to ensure that no woman and no place is left behind nationwide.
Ms Sibusisiwe Ncube, said they are more in business when there is a demand for school uniforms and related products.
“When schools are about to open, we see a lot of orders for uniforms. People are really coming to place orders and in terms of business, the volumes are increasing,” she said.
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MSMEs in Zimbabwe are the backbone of the economy, comprising over 3,4 million entities that contribute roughly 70 to 76 percent of total employment and approximately US$8,6 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP).-herald
