Chronicle Editor
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
THE Bulawayo Chamber of Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is appealing to key stakeholders and the local authority for the provision of workspaces for SMEs saying their members were being pushed out of business by high rentals.
The chamber said the choking rentals were stifling the growth of SMEs in the city as most of them were surviving on hand to mouth.
A snap survey conducted by Sunday News Business revealed that rentals for shop space in the Central Business District (CBD) cost from US$250 to US$2 000 and beyond depending on the size of the space and where it’s located.
A number of premises are either closing up shop or dividing the available space into small compartments to have more small businesses in one place. Bulawayo Chamber of SMEs chairperson Mr Coustin Ngwenya said in an interview that most workspaces were unaffordable for most SMEs.
“The majority of SMEs live on hand to mouth and they do not have meaningful savings or overdraft facilities. The biggest challenge faced by SMEs is workspaces, the rentals being charged by landlords are not sustainable to the SMEs sector. Rents are abnormally being increased occasionally. As a chamber that represents SMEs, we are appealing to various stakeholders and the local authority for the provisions of workspaces because as it is these private landlords are suffocating the small businesses making it difficult for them to grow.”
Founder and owner of Bulawayo-based Nhla fashions, Mrs Nonhlanhla Nare said as small businesses payment delays coupled with high rentals affected their operations.
“As an SME that specialises in school wear that includes uniforms, blazers, tracksuits and African attires, one of our challenges is delayed payments and this causes us to have a clash with our landlords if we also delay paying rentals.
The rentals are also exorbitant and most estate agents charge their rentals in foreign currency. It therefore means the little foreign currency that we as SMEs get goes directly to rental payments instead of acquiring raw materials,” she said.
In a previous interview, Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Judith Ncube expressed concern over premises that were facing neglect and losing lustre over time due to closure over high rentals.
“These premises are too expensive and a lot of shops have been closed as people move out due to high rentals,” she said.
She urged corporates to consider reviewing their rentals in most shopping malls in western suburbs such as Nkulumane Shopping Mall and Entumbane Complex, among others.
“They need to create a user-friendly atmosphere as most of the shops are vacant,” she said.
The minister said it was disheartening to see vacant shops at such places, while most SMEs were operating outside where they were exposed to the vagaries of harsh weather. She said most of the shopping malls, centres and complexes used to be pivotal business hubs in areas they were situated.
“You would find major supermarkets, pharmacies and banks, hence people did not need to go all the way into the CBD from their residential areas.
However, currently it is a different story altogether as most of the facilities are all closed up and can now be accessed in the CBD.”
According to the MSME 2021 Survey, the sector is made up of 3,4 million businesses countrywide and provided full-time employment to over 4,8 million people.
The 2022 Finscope SME Survey, highlighted that MSMEs contributed US$ 8,2 billion to national GDP.
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