Online Reporter
Sikhulekelani Moyo [email protected]
THE Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Organisation (BVTO) is in India this week for a series of engagements aimed at building stronger trade and technology links for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Bulawayo and across Zimbabwe.
BVTO executive director Mr Michael Ndiweni is undertaking the week-long visit through the facilitation of the Bulawayo Chamber of SMEs and the India SME Forum.
The trip places Zimbabwean MSMEs on an international platform and seeks to learn from India’s experience in enterprise development, technology, innovation, market access and MSME financing.
At the centre of the visit is the push to build an India–Zimbabwe MSME Growth Bridge to move local enterprises from survivalist operations towards productive, technology-enabled and competitive businesses.
Key areas being pursued include partnerships for entrepreneur training and mentorship, matching grants and challenge funds, access to affordable machinery and equipment, technology transfer, buyer–seller linkages, digital and export market access, as well as exchange programmes.
The BVTO delegation wants Zimbabwean entrepreneurs to learn directly from successful Indian clusters, factories, incubators and technology centres.
“Our message is that enterprise development should go beyond training and certificates. An entrepreneur who receives training should ultimately be connected to finance, appropriate technology, machinery, markets and opportunities that result in measurable growth, improved productivity and jobs,” said Mr Ndiweni.
BVTO is also exploring a structured partnership with the India SME Forum.
Proposals on the table include establishing an MSME academy, shared machinery and common production facilities, sector exchange programmes, and an India–Zimbabwe market gateway to link enterprises to buyers, distributors and new markets.
The organisation stressed that the mission represents more than BVTO alone. It said the group is carrying the aspirations of the wider MSME ecosystem in Bulawayo and Zimbabwe, and will use the platform to highlight other MSME associations, chambers, working groups and enterprise organisations with which it collaborates.
“Building a strong MSME sector requires coordinated institutions rather than individual organisations working in isolation,” he noted.
Zimbabwean MSMEs, BVTO said, have ideas, resilience, products and entrepreneurial energy.
What is required now is an enabling ecosystem that connects that energy to skills, finance, technology and markets.
The objective of the India visit is therefore to learn, build relationships and identify concrete opportunities that can be brought home and translated into practical support for entrepreneurs.
“Ultimately, we want to demonstrate that Zimbabwe–India MSME cooperation can become a practical corridor for skills, technology, investment, innovation and market access — beginning in Bulawayo and potentially scaling across Zimbabwe and Southern Africa,” said Mr Ndiweni.
