{"id":25233,"date":"2022-06-27T23:57:01","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T23:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/smes-represent-over-80-percent-of-national-employment-musokotwane"},"modified":"2022-06-28T00:13:56","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T00:13:56","slug":"smes-represent-over-80-percent-of-national-employment-musokotwane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/smes-represent-over-80-percent-of-national-employment-musokotwane","title":{"rendered":"SMEs represent over 80 percent of national employment-Musokotwane"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>Minister of Finance and National Planning Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane has preached the importance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to the national economy. Dr. Musokotwane said small and medium sized enterprises are the true lifeblood of the national economy.<\/p>\n

He said with SMEs representing over 80 percent of national employment, there cannot be any conversation about industrial development and wealth creation without factoring in the role of SMEs.<\/p>\n

Dr. Musokotwane was speaking when Absa Bank Zambia in partnership with the U.S International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and USAID Zambia Enterprise and Development and Growth Enhanced Activity (EDGE) Programme launched a US$ 20 million financing programme for SMEs in Zambia.<\/p>\n

The partnership, which will extend over ten years, is intended to strengthen the Bank\u2019s ability to provide loans to businesses in key national sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, and clean energy in Zambia, thereby stimulating economic growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmall and medium sized enterprises are the true lifeblood of our national economy. With SMEs representing over 80 percent of national employment, there cannot be any conversation about industrial development and wealth creation without factoring in the role of SMEs,\u201d Dr. Musokotwane said at the Urban Hotel in Lusaka.<\/p>\n

Absa Bank Zambia Managing Director, Mizinga Melu said, \u201cThis partnership, between three institutions that share a vision of sustainable growth for Zambia and a long standing commitment to the country, is a clear demonstration of how foreign capital development institutions and local private entities can work together to give a real and significant boost to Zambia and Zambians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough this initiative, Absa Bank Zambia is reinforcing our commitment to economic growth and support for the country\u2019s development. On one hand, we will be doing this by promoting investment and improving the business climate, while simultaneously developing a favourable environment for the generation of new jobs. Whilst on the other hand, we will be supporting the sustainable growth of key national sectors and a shift to a more diversified economy as envisioned by the Government,\u201d Mrs. Melu said.<\/p>\n

Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Development, Elias Mubanga saluted the Bank for the timely intervention to support SMEs and appealed to other corporations to emulate the gesture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish to commend Absa Bank Zambia for this timely move to recognise SMEs as a critical engine to economic growth during these unprecedented times. It is my government\u2019s hope that other corporate entities will emulate this gesture and consider investing in SME development if we are to grow our economy and create meaningful employment for our youths,\u201d Mr. Mubanga said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Charg\u00e9 d\u2019Affaires at the USA Embassy in Zambia, Sheryl Stumbras, hailed the partnership with the private sector. \u201cIt is an honour to launch a partnership with the private sector. With this new partnership, our goal is to spur greater investment in agriculture, promote investment in clean energy for cooking and support both the manufacturing and tourism industries,\u201d Stumbras said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis partnership fits squarely with the United States approach of collaboration with both the private sector and the Zambian government and takes a market-driven approach to Zambia\u2019s development challenges. At the same time, this partnership supports Zambia\u2019s 8th National Development Plan,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. Minister of Finance and National Planning Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane has preached the importance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to the national economy. Dr. Musokotwane said small and medium sized enterprises are the true lifeblood of the national economy. He said with SMEs representing over 80 percent of national employment, there cannot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":25232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8,16],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-25233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nSMEs represent over 80 percent of national employment-Musokotwane - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Minister of Finance and National Planning Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane has preached the importance of Small and Medium Ente ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/smes-represent-over-80-percent-of-national-employment-musokotwane\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SMEs represent over 80 percent of national employment-Musokotwane\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Minister of Finance and National Planning Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane has preached the importance of Small and Medium Ente ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/smes-represent-over-80-percent-of-national-employment-musokotwane\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-27T23:57:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-28T00:13:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/06\/postQueueImg_14-62ba47b14defa.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/smes-represent-over-80-percent-of-national-employment-musokotwane#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/smes-represent-over-80-percent-of-national-employment-musokotwane\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"SMEs represent over 80 percent of national employment-Musokotwane\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-27T23:57:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-28T00:13:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/smes-represent-over-80-percent-of-national-employment-musokotwane\"},\"wordCount\":549,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/smes-represent-over-80-percent-of-national-employment-musokotwane#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2022\/06\/postQueueImg_14-62ba47b14defa.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/smes-represent-over-80-percent-of-national-employment-musokotwane#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/smes-represent-over-80-percent-of-national-employment-musokotwane\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/smes-represent-over-80-percent-of-national-employment-musokotwane\",\"name\":\"SMEs represent over 80 percent of national employment-Musokotwane - 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