Capacitate SMEs, Comesa urges region

THE Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) has urged the region to capacitate micro, small and medium enterprises on how to use and access digital financial services to promote digital transformation.

Comesa is a 21-member trading bloc comprising countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Eswatini (Swaziland), Seychelles, Kenya, Rwanda, Egypt and Djibouti.

In a statement, the bloc’s assistant secretary general responsible for programmes, Dr Kipyego Cheluget said: “It will be good start to build the capacity of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) on how to use and access digital financial services in pursuit of digital transformation in the Comesa region.”

This was said during the fourth digital financial inclusion private-public dialogue held by Comesa Business Council (CBC) recently.

The digital financial inclusion dialogue was held under the theme: “Towards a Regional Digital Payments Platform for MSMEs in Comesa.”

CBC is a business member organisation bringing together a diverse group of businesses and associations in the region from 34 sectors in 21 countries under Comesa.

The CBC is recognised regional apex body of the private sector in the region.

As the key advocacy driver for business, CBC provides a link between the private sector and organs of the common market as it seeks to improve the competitiveness and deepen the participation of the private sector in regional and global trade, through advocacy, business facilitation and enterprise development.

Dr Cheluget said it is highly important that the private sector contributes to the agenda of financial inclusion.

“Digital finance has played a significant role in expanding financial inclusion and allowing more people to have access to financial services, who would otherwise be excluded from the traditional banking system.

“This is especially because some countries still have certain segments of the population outside the official financial system.

“However, the region has experienced commendable progress in financial inclusion especially in terms of having mobile phone accounts,” he said.

In his presentation on the same occasion, CBC digital financial inclusion manager Dr Jonathan Pinifolo said over 80 percent of the business community in Comesa is governed by MSMEs, of which a large number rely on cross border trading.

Therefore, he said, MSMEs economy is largely informal, transacting using inefficient channels and risky cash.

Dr Pinifolo said MSMEs face some challenges as they usually fall in hands of theft through handling of hard cash.

“There is inadequate security in terms of physical handling of hard cash,” he said.

Other challenges being faced by MSMEs include lack of exposure to digital financial literacy, lack of political will that is, lack of updated information, and lack of supportive infrastructure and market intelligence . — The Chronicle