Andrew
Bulawayo Bureau
OVER 130 000 small businesses have applied for funding from the Government to cushion them against loss of business caused by the Covid-19-induced lockdown.
Women, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Dr Sithembiso Nyoni said Government had been flooded by applications from businesses seeking assistance.
“The uptake for the cushion facility was very good. We registered over 130 000 people who will start benefiting from the facility soon. We also received an appeal that there is still a great number of people that are interested in registering for this facility and we might consider reopening it for such applicants,” she said.
Applications to the facility will also be used to update the existing database.
“As a ministry, the registering or applications by these SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and players in the informal sector will also enable us to update our records and come up with a comprehensive data detailing the number of players we have.
“We intend to know the numbers so as to consider them for a number of programmes we intend to roll out in the near future,” she said.
Online Reporter