Africa-Press – Uganda. Micro Small and Medium Enterprises continue to lose out on multi-million deals due to their inability to comply with set standards.
While making a presentation to the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Tourism and Industry, Ms Jane Nalunga, the Seatini executive director, urged Parliament to use its oversight role to push government into mitigating compliance challenges that render a number of Uganda’s product uncompetitive.
The presentation, delivered under the theme: Uganda’s economy and Covid-19: Implications, lessons and proposals on a way forward” noted that the failure by government to help small business to comply with set standards has cost the country dearly.
For instance, on July 08, 2019 and December 30, 2019, Germany notified Uganda about rejection, detaining and destruction of sesame exports due to contamination with salmonella.
This came after another notice in which Uganda was forced to undertake a self-imposed ban for the export of chilli to European Union between 2015 and 2019. Ms Nalunga said government should, beyond enforcement, popularise standards as well as find solutions where there are challenges.
This, she said, should include enforcing distinctive quality mark as well as ensuring that all locally produced goods are certified before they are put on the market.
For decades, small businesses have grappled with high cost of doing business due to limited access to finance, which has now been exacerbated by Covid-19.
Therefore, this makes it difficult for such businesses to standardise their products yet government can offer incentives including waivers where necessary to help them access better and advanced markets .
A study conducted by Seatini and Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises recently noted that whereas Covid-19 had decimated small businesses, it has created a window through digital operations that are cheaper in the long run.
However, for them to get sufficient returns, according to Seatini, they must standardize given the wide reach that digital technology offers.
