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Business Reporter
The Government will continue to come up with initiatives to support women in business to promote equity and inclusive growth, Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Sekai Nzenza has said.
Participating in a panel discussion at the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Business Forum in Cape Town, South Africa on Monday, Dr Nzenza said the Government had taken deliberate policy measures to ensure inclusive participation of women in the mainstream economy.
“The future of industrialisation is ours to collectively design through formalisation and harnessing that historical expertise of women,” said Dr Nzenza.
“We must measure the ability of women to embrace the AfCFTA using the rate of private sector led growth.”
Already, the Government has come up with various initiatives to support women.
Last year, the Government, through the statutory trade promotion and development agency ZimTrade launched NextShe Exporter, an initiative meant to assist women in the production of goods for export markets.
Since its launch in April last year, about 100 women entrepreneurs have been capacitated with export knowledge and skills.
To address funding constraints, the Government also established the Zimbabwe Women Micro Finance Bank (ZWMB) to provide cheap loans for women-led business initiatives.
A recent survey indicated that the loans obtained from ZWMB have had a very positive impact on women’s enterprises, although lack of collateral remains the biggest obstacle prohibiting women from accessing credit.
Established in 2018, ZWMB’s primary goal is to enhance access to affordable loans for women. The bank also offers training on the sustainable utilization of loans.
Lack of access to capital is one of the major barriers facing women entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe, especially in marginalised areas. They often lack the security to borrow while some cultural values do not allow women to venture into businesses.
A joint report by the Portfolio Committees on Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development and Thematic Committee on Gender and Development noted that several beneficiaries confirmed ZWMB loans boosted their businesses such as cross-border trading, chicken production, sawing and farming.
“Within the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, we track our capacity utilisation using the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industry statistics. We have also begun to zero in on SMEs where all these women-led initiatives are included so that we can elevate and incentivise their endeavours,” said Dr Nzenza.
Online Reporter