Speaking at an SMEs expo held in Harare last week, Advisor to the RBZ Governor, Munyaradzi Kereke, said the central bank and government had put in place policy mechanisms to favour SMEs.
“While these have been set up, they should be fully supported by banks and other players,” he said.
The proposed bank would help transform the retained earnings and informal saving schemes in the country's unbanked communities and add value to them by on-lending to viable underfunded SMEs.
Indian Embassy in Zimbabwe First Secretary, Mukesh Kumar, said India, which has a vibrant sector of micro and small to medium enterprises, built its industry through private sector lending, institutional arrangements between government and private sector and credit guarantee schemes.
The country’s SMEs sector is estimated to contribute between 60 and 70 percent of the country's GDP, while the major source of finance is the Small Enterprises Development Corporation which assisted 4 900 SMEs in 2010.
Meanwhile, exhibitors who attended the inaugural expo, dubbed the ‘Social Responsibility Reverse Expo', have stressed the need for the corporate world to give them financial assistance as well as ideas for their businesses to grow.
One of the organisers of the event, Jethro Rombwa said the expo was established to promote small scale businesses, which do not have financial muscles to exhibit their wares at big events such as the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair and the Harare Agricultural Show.
Post published in: Business