All set for Sedco training programme

The training programme is targeted at the country’s emerging business people so as to improve their management skills.
The programme will cover project management, business accounting and quality assessment.
The training is an initiative of Sedco that is mandated to administer funds for the development of small-scale enterprises and also aims to reduce the rate of project failures among loan recipients.
Sedco acting general manager Mr Stanislaus Makusha said the corporation was seeking to prepare SMEs for the effective use of funds, which will be disbursed soon.
“We are now looking for funding to prepare ourselves for the resumption of lending. But while we are doing that, we want to ensure that beneficiaries have the right skills and knowledge to make good use of funds,” he said.
Mr Makusha added that Sedco was in the process of acquiring at least US$5 million from the Government and other financial partners for onlending to local SMEs to boost their operations.
With liquidity constraints currently bedevilling the economy, most sectors including SMEs are having difficulties in recapitalising their operations, which has resulted in low production capacity.
Analysts contend that the revitalisation of the small to medium enterprises sector will greatly contribute to the socio-economic development of the coun-try.
Some of the sectors that benefit from Sedco’s financing include poultry projects, general dealerships, chemical engineering, manufacturing, clothing, beverages and fisheries.
The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce has been pushing for the establishment of an SMEs stock market that is less stringent than the current main bourse as an alternative source of funding SMEs.