Come up with fundable projects, youths urged

Business Reporter
Young people must come up with entrepreneurial projects that can be supported so as to alleviate the                 high unemployment rates that the country is faced with, an official has said.
In an interview, the general manager of the Small Enterprises Development Corporation (Sedco), Miss Gladys Kanyongo, said there was a need for youths to come up with fundable projects that attract investment.
“Instead of young people waiting to be employed by some people, they should be initiative and creative by coming up with their own business ideas and we can try and support them by training and finance when it is available.
“The country has got a lot of resources, which if taken advantage of, could change the face of our economy,” she said.
She said small businesses could turn the economy around only if people were willing to work hard and invest during hard and uncertain times.
“For most people, it is so risky to invest in any business now but this is actually the best time to invest.
“Some foreigners are establishing their small businesses in the country and we are saying it should be the local population making such moves to reduce poverty in the country as local resources should benefit local people,” she said.
She encouraged the Government and the corporate world to support small business ventures for the sake of economic growth.
“Up-and-coming businesses need encouragement and support from bigger and financially strong companies for them to succeed.
“This is the reason why we are                also pursuing the establishment                   of an SME and Co-operative Bank               that will augment resources        available for lending to SMEs and co-operatives in Zimbabwe,” Miss Kanyongo said.
She said foreign lines of credit were difficult to attract due to economic sanctions and the slow growth of SMEs was attributable to limited credit in the market and the absence of medium- to long-term credit in the market at favourable rates, which is ideal for the sustainable growth of the productive sector, a key driver of the economy.
“This has not only affected the SMEs but also the bigger companies whose capacity utilisation has remained below an average of 40 percent.
“Due to undercapitalisation, competing with imported products has been difficult so Sedco has a deliberate credit policy that directs most of its funding towards this,” she said.