dyton mupawaenda
Farai Dauramanzi Herald Reporter
The Southlea Park community in Harare is set to hold a small and medium enterprises exhibition dubbed the Summer Business Expo, with Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa as the guest of honour.
The expo is set for November 4, and will be open to all business enterprises operating in Southlea Park and beyond.
It is in line with the Second Republic’s thrust of leaving no one and no place behind as the country marches forward to attain Vision 2030 of an upper-middle income economy.
In an interview, Mrs Emilia Chisango, director of The Place, the venue of the expo, said they want to bring businesspeople in Southlea Park together, network and exchange ideas.
“What we have been doing is to encourage, especially our local businesspeople, to say that the expos that you see happening in town or in the other parts of town, we can have the same in Southlea Park,” she said.
“We are encouraging the local business community to attend. We are also encouraging people from the other side of town to come and mingle, so we are going to have a rare selection of exhibitions where you have got a combination of people from all areas of the city.”
The exhibition will be open to all businesses, with special focus on women-run SMEs and individuals who rarely get a chance to exhibit at bigger exhibitions.
“This is the inaugural exhibition but this expo is set to become an annual event,” she said.
CEO of The Place, Mrs Paulina Runesu, said the summer business expo was inspired by President Mnangagwa’s philosophy of leaving no one and no place behind.
“Our President’s policies include everyone, and in that spirit, we are hosting this expo in Southlea Park to debunk the myth that expos are always for the elite.
“There is a lot of potential in Southlea Park and we want it to be shown to the world. Southlea Park is actually the face of Harare because it is the first area that you see when getting into Harare using the Masvingo-Beitbridge highway, which is the country’s busiest highway. So we want it to shine,” she said.
Mrs Runesu expressed gratitude for the support given to small businesses by the Second Republic.
The exhibition will run from 8am to 5pm and visitors can expect a fun-filled day of free activities such as keynote address from Minister Mutsvangwa, presentations from an internationally acclaimed business coach, group sessions, darts, slug, swimming, tug of war, snooker and ball games.
Children will also be catered for as they will enjoy a jungle gym and jumping castles for free.
Extra activities on offer will be putt putt, horse riding and quad bike rides.
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