Zim boosts SME support to leverage AfCFTA
GOVERNMENT, recognising the pivotal role played by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in driving economic growth and development, is working on upscaling efforts to bolster their viability and competitiveness through standardisation and certification of products to capitalise on the emerging opportunities within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Trade experts say as local SMEs embrace formalisation and ISO standards, they not only fortify their own resilience and competitiveness but also contribute to the broader agenda of economic transformation and sustainable development.
SMEs in Zimbabwe now contribute more than US$8,6 billion to the gross domestic product and employ about 4,8 million people, becoming the bedrock of the country’s journey towards attaining the vision of becoming an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
Under the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) – Government’s economic blueprint that guides the country’s development between 2021 and 2025 – unlocking SMEs potential is one of the significant steps towards fostering inclusive economic transformation.
Presenting the mid-term monetary review statement recently, Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Professor Mthuli Ncube underscored Government’s commitment to promoting standardisation and quality assurance as a means for SMEs to have a competitive edge.
“Government remains committed to ensuring increased participation of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across the various productive sector value chains, as part of the economic transformation agenda,” said Prof Ncube.
He said through engagements with SMEs and other relevant stakeholders, Government will develop customised support packages for the sector, entailing the simplification of complex registration systems, incentives and support for startups and nurture match marking arrangements and business linkages with large corporate.
Other plans include participation at local, regional and international fairs and investment platforms and standardisation and certification of SMEs products, in order to take advantage of emerging opportunities within the AfCFTA.
Development of work space and infrastructure for SMEs, in collaboration with the private sector and capacity building, covering skills training, business information, business management practices, access to work space, compliance and marketing knowledge, are among other planned initiatives.
AfCFTA is one of the flagship projects of African Union Agenda 2063 and it seeks to create a single continental market, with a population of about 1,3 billion people and a combined Gross Domestic Product of approximately US$3,4 trillion.
The AfCFTA will be the world’s largest new free trade area since the establishment of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1994.
However, Prof Ncube said access to finance remains a major challenge hindering the growth of SMEs and start-ups operating across various sectors, thereby limiting growth of innovative initiatives.
“In this regard, the 2025 Budget will empower financial institutions with resources that will be used to support SME,” he said.
Over the years, SMEs have been encouraged to subscribe to a standards body as the market whether local or international wants to purchase goods that are produced in tandem with global best practices.
Some local manufacturers are scrambling to get Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) and International Standards Organisation (ISO) certification to inspire confidence in consumers that their products are top quality. -chroncile
