Siphakeme .Mnindwa
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
LUPANE State University’s advisory arm, the LSU Business Clinic, is set to spearhead efforts to formalise the informal sector through a transformative package comprising mentorship, specialised training programmes and short management courses.
The initiative comes against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding unregulated informal sector, which has raised concerns among retailers.
The informal sector is reportedly offering goods at significantly lower prices, primarily due to its evasion of statutory obligations such as registration, taxation, licensing fees and adherence to labour laws.
In a bid to address this, the Government has had to introduce various measures to tackle the urgent issue of informalisation within vital sectors, particularly retail and wholesale.
To complement Government efforts, LSU Dean of the Faculty of Commerce, Dr Sibongile Manzini said through their Business Clinic they were available to facilitate business formalisation.
“The Business Clinic will facilitate business formalisation for the informal sector, including company registration, private business corporation formation and co-operative company registration,” she said.
“This transformative package also includes mentorship through facilitating training programmes and short management courses in business and entrepreneurship. There will be attendant services such as tax consultancy, accounting consultancy, human resource consultancy and loan application support, among others.”
She said the Business Clinic was vital in supporting local businesses and promoting entrepreneurship in Matabeleland North and Bulawayo.
Dr Manzini said its innovative projects and research-based solutions were helping to address the challenges faced by business entities in the region.
“We can expect to see more exciting initiatives from the clinic in 2025. Its purpose is to unpack various intervention programmes and packages for the ailing industry, mining, agriculture as well as tourism and hospitality sectors,” she said.
“The Business Clinic recognises the ongoing interventions on the re-industrialisation of Bulawayo Metropolitan Province and the resurgent mining and agricultural activities in Matabeleland North Province. In that regard, it offers training programmes in new venture creation, management of consortiums, and feasibility studies targeting would-be entrepreneurs and industrialists.”
She said since its establishment, the Business Clinic has actively engaged local businesses, offering entrepreneurship mentorship, training, business advice to ailing entities and business counselling.
Dr Manzini said it has also been involved in various research projects, including studies on the challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region.
“The Business Clinic will continue supporting local businesses and promoting entrepreneurship in 2025 in line with Vision 2030 of an upper middle-income economy status. Some of the innovative projects to look forward to, include research-based solutions to SMEs, entrepreneurship training programmes and partnerships with local businesses among other things,” she said.
On research-based solutions to SMEs, she said the Business Clinic will continue to research on the challenges facing SMEs in the region and provide research-based solutions.
Dr Manzini said on entrepreneurship training programmes, it will also continue to offer entrepreneurship training programmes for the youth and aspiring entrepreneurs, focusing on climate-resilient agriculture and entrepreneurship.
She added: “We are also looking forward to partnerships with local businesses. The Business Clinic will continue to partner with local businesses, supporting them in their efforts to innovate and grow.”
On the agro sector, Dr Manzini said as part of broader services, there were specific facilities in the agro-related industry sector and these include co-ordinating group agropreneurship activities.
She said the Business Clinic will create a database of smallholder farmers willing to participate.
“In this package, these smallholder farmers in Matabeleland North will be grouped according to their dominant activity and will be linked to bulk buyers through a scheme co-ordinated by the Business Clinic as a community capacity-building activity,” she said.
“This will entail co-ordinating the pooling of products to the designated market as a single consignment and the group members will benefit pro rata from the sales. In essence, this package seeks to improve the marketing capacity and capabilities of the smallholder farmer.”
Inspired by the Second Republic’s heritage-based Education 5.0 philosophy, LSU Business Clinic has been involved in innovative projects in response to challenges facing communities, including businesses within its geographic sphere of influence.
Online Reporter