adminThe exchange is meant to impart knowledge in three key areas – business management, record keeping and marketing.
Speaking at the forum, Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development provincial head for Harare Mrs Beatrice Mutumbwa pledged Government support
for such an initiative.
“Government, through my ministry, appreciates the role that the informal sector plays in economic development considering a large number of Zimbabweans are employed in this sector.
“We, therefore, support those who come in to augment Government’s efforts to avail funding and any other assistance possible for the people to start up their own businesses, which in turn develop communities and create employment,” said Mrs Mutumbwa.
Help From Germany started its assistance programmes in June 2011 with aid sourced from Germany.
The organisation’s mandate is to alleviate poverty in communities in a sustainable manner that encourages community development and employment creation while also lobbying stakeholders including local authorities and Government to come up with an en- abling operating environment.
So far, they have assisted the Mabvuku/Tafara, Norton and Mberengwa communities and hope to keep expanding their assistance to cover the whole country.
Help From Germany programmes manager Mr Roy Machoko said each beneficiary got US$500 worth of an assistance package that varied from equipment to raw materials to
boost whatever business venture they wanted to go into.
“In order to make sure our efforts to help them grow their business come to fruition we have organised this forum so that they can share views, ideas, experiences and challenges while we also train them in business management skills, record keeping and marketing.
“By so doing, we are optimistic communities can be empowered and therefore continue to develop,” said Mr Machoko.
He added that they had opted to roll out the aid in the form of a package that includes equipment and raw materials because they wanted to minimise the risk of abuse.
“We also put beneficiaries into clusters based on their line of business so that they can work together in sharing ideas and problem solving and these include carpentry, welding and construction and provided them with raw materials to use in their operations,” he added.
Help From Germany country director Mr Chris Laufens hailed the potential that the Zimbabwean people possess despite their financial limitations adding that it was what inspired them to initiate such a programme.
“We realised that there was entrepreneurial potential in the people of Zimbabwe though they were faced with financing challenges to start up their ventures.
“We therefore came up with a thorough selection process that involved the SMEs ministry so that we would identify the most deserving through analysing their proposals and come up with an assistance package,” he said.
Mr Laufens did not rule out the possibility of the assistance package being revised upwards but warned that this would only be possible if they found partners from both the public and private sectors in the project.
A beneficiary of the fund, Mr Timothy Shingirayi Jumbe of Mabvuku, expressed gratitude to Help From Germany as his small brick making venture was booming.
“After engaging Help From Germany we were advised on how to register our ventures so that we could operate as legally registered entities.
“After successfully doing so, I then got material assistance and started my business of wall casting, driveway casting and brick moulding operating under the name Timjoy Contracting. My sales volumes have been increasing as well as my capacity to produce while I now employ four contract workers every month,” said Mr Jumbe.
Online Reporter