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Bianca Mlilo, Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Cross Border Traders’ Association and the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries are working on a partnership deal aimed at increasing mutual benefits for both traders and manufacturers.
The deal would be a way of sustaining the livelihoods of cross border traders while allowing manufacturers to stay afloat.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Mr Busisa Moyo revealed this at a round table briefing held at a hotel in Bulawayo yesterday.
“We have realised that through this Statutory Instrument (SI 64 of 2016), to a certain extent we have taken away the livelihood of people who are in the business of trading in imports and exports,” said Mr Moyo.
“We have not had a close linkage with these small to medium enterprises, it has just been us and them but we have decided to change that. On Thursday October 19 we will be launching an alliance between the Zimbabwe Cross Border Traders’ Association and CZI with a view to maintaining and sustaining their livelihoods.”
He said this alliance would be premised on allowing the SMEs to buy their stock from local manufacturers at a special price with a view to sustaining their livelihoods.
This, he said, had been driven by the fact that these entrepreneurs sell their goods right in front of retail outlets, which was not viable for retailers.
Mr Moyo said as a way of supporting this move, the European Union and Steward Bank had come in to provide credit to the entrepreneurs as a way of encouraging them to grow their businesses.
The individual’s access to a higher credit line would be increased if the entrepreneur was performing well in terms of honesty and having a good track record in repaying the credit extended to them.
Surveys indicate that close to five million people could be employed in the SMEs sector with an estimated $7 billion circulating outside the formal banking system.
Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa is on record as saying that SMEs “are increasingly becoming a major driver of economic growth and development, enhancing employment opportunities and poverty alleviation” due to the structural shift in the country’s economy.
Minister Chinamasa has said it was imperative that Government continues to support the sector by addressing the challenges faced by SMEs such as finance, infrastructure provision, technology, management and entrepreneurial skills as well as access to markets.
Since the dollarisation of the economy in 2009, many Zimbabweans have taken to importing foodstuffs for retail as a way of making a living.
Their prices are slightly lower than those of retailers, making them a force to reckon with in the scramble for customers.
@BiancaMlilo
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