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Innocent Ruwende Senior Reporter
Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are ready to step in to assist in availing basic commodities whose availability was erratic and prices had soared, the Harare Chamber of SME’s said yesterday.
The pledge was made to Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development Minister Sithembiso Nyoni during a workshop dubbed “Available Economic Solutions within SME’s Sector”.
Harare Chamber of Small to Medium Enterprises chairperson Mr Melvin Marembo said SMEs were prepared to take their rightful position in the economy.
“We are raring to go despite not getting foreign currency like big corporates. We have the capacity to bring different commodities, raw materials and other necessary imports which can turn around our economy,” he said.
The Zimbabwe Small Scale Oil Processors Association (Zissopa) also promised the minister that it was going to put on the market more than one million litres of oil to help mitigate the supply challenges currently being faced by the country.
Zissopa president Mr Donald Gwisai accused big companies of stock piling and contributing to the current shortages.
“Currently Zissopa has a crushing capacity of 4 000 tonnes per month. We were only allocated a total of 10 600 (both cotton and soya seed), which literally means we can only operate for two months, resulting in a lower factory capacity utilisation of 40 percent,” he said.
“This is bad considering that the market wants more oil and we being forced to switch off our plants because of inadequate seed stocks while other big companies bought stock from Cottco and stock piled it just because they have the funds.”
Mr Gwisai continued, “They stock pile because they are still trying to commission their plants and at the same time they are receiving forex for importation of crude oil. Our sector needs to have access to the right kind of finances.”
He said there was a negative perception about the capabilities of some leaders in both the public and private sector.
Minister Nyoni said the prevailing challenge has shown that the country needs more players in the manufacturing sector than before so that the few manufacturers doing business now do not take advantage of the market.
“The disappearance of commodities has created space and opportunities which SME’s need to take up. The Ministry in collaboration with the Harare Chamber of SME’s has convened this meeting to explore ways and means SME’s can be capacitated to contribute meaningfully to the production of various commodities, which are in short supply and help in solving this temporary crisis,” she said.
“The situation we are in is not new in developed economies. These developed countries experienced more or less similar challenges we are facing right now. Like we did, they had initially designed their economies to be spearheaded by a few large corporates.”
Minister Nyoni said the multinational corporations became unsustainable models of business and sustainable growth rates were recorded after countries like South Korea started supporting SME’s.
Online Reporter