Africa-Press – Zambia. Small and Medium Enterprises in Muchinga Province have made submissions towards the Policy formulation under the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises Development.
And small and medium entrepreneurs in the region have advised the new dawn government consider giving startup capital to SMEs mainly in the construction industry. The stakeholders made their submissions during a two-day Provincial consultative process held at K-lombe Private School Hall in Chinsali.
Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Chief Planner Emmanuel Kasanga confirms that the team is in the province to get submissions from SMEs and cooperatives that will feed into the National Policy.
Mr Kasanga added in an interview that following the establishment of the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises Development in 2021, it is now time for Government to put policies and legislation in place that will foster the development and growth of cooperatives and SMEs.
Mr Kasanga who is also team leader from the ministry in Lusaka said it is these same policies and legislations that will help Government to govern the public properly.
He said Government runs the affairs of the public through policies and legislation which are a set of written instructions. “These policies and legislations will act as a guiding tool to government that will be implemented by public workers,” said Mr Kasanga.
The challenges being experienced by SMEs and Cooperatives that have been made through various submissions will help Government to formulate measures that will mitigate the challenges that have been highlighted.
“In the past, these policies were made by civil servants but this time around Government wants to hear from the affected horse’s mouth,” the Chief Planner stated.
Policy formulation aids public workers to actualise policies made into what the masses can experience in real life. And Musonda Chipasha, a local entrepreneur, said Government should consider giving startup capital to SMEs in the construction industry.
line with the 20 per cent sub-construction of local contractors, Mr Chipasha said it has been difficult for most local contractors to execute the works due to poor financial muscle. Most local contractors do not have collateral to present to the financial institutions for them to access loans compared to foreign contractors.
“Government should consider giving startup capital to SMEs in the construction industry so that they are able to participate effectively in the construction industry, ” said Mr Chipasha.
And colleague Innocent Sunkutu has called on the government to ensure that taxes paid on one item is minimized adding that SMEs are paying more than one tax per item.
” You find we are paying at the border, to Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and at the council, this is too much and a drain to our businesses,” he lamented.
Following its establishment in September 2021, the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development has embarked on reviewing, formulating, and developing policies and legislation to execute its mandate of fostering the development and growth of Cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprises.
The Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises is holding stakeholders meetings to receive proposals on how best stakeholders want the Ministry to operate.
The stakeholders are also submitting what they want the Ministry to help the cooperatives in their endeavours and other programmes such as Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).
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