The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Business Correspondent
Government has pledged to create a conducive operating environment for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in line with National Development Strategy 1, a Government official has said.
At a dissemination workshop on the National, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Policy (2020-2024) that was held at a local hotel last week, Director of Small and Medium Enterprises Development in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Dr Francis Gondo, said Government will endeavour to improve the ease of doing business by decentralising offices that facilitate service delivery and effective flow of information.
“The ministry will continue to strengthen its provincial and district offices in order to facilitate service delivery and effective flow of information in line with the devolution agenda.
“It will also encourage stakeholders to decentralise their services to provincial and district levels to reduce the cost of doing business,” he said.
Dr Gondo said the policy which was launched in December seeks to address certain regulatory issues that limit the productivity of MSMEs, thereby limiting the smooth implementation of NDS1.
The regulatory issues to be addressed include the reduction of regulatory and compliance requirements through the harmonisation of laws and policies, as well as a process simplification to encourage formalisation and compliance without burdening the MSMEs.
Also to be reviewed is the Small and Medium Enterprises Act (Chapter 24:12) and other regulations.
This will help identify and remove provisions that hinder the development and growth of the enterprises.
“Government will see to it that the time it takes to register a company improves. It will also continue to encourage MSMEs to comply with the laws and regulations that govern the labour market in Zimbabwe through streamlining and simplification of the laws and processes,” said Dr Gondo.
He said the policy will enhance efforts to assist MSMEs grow and increase formal employment through linkages with service providers to promote decent work.
He also said tax laws and administration will be simplified to ensure compliance of MSMEs.
The policy is anchored on capacitation of the MSMEs for growth on production, productivity and competitiveness as it contributes towards the economic development of the nation.
Some of the pillars also addressed under the MSMEs Policy and Strategy Framework (2020-2024) are MSMEs’ financial support, market development and trade promotion, entrepreneurship development, business management, corporate governance.
Innovations and technical skills development, access to modern production and information communication technology (ICT), standardisation and quality assurance and rural industrialisation, as well as research and development are also tackled in the policy.
In December when President Mnangagwa launched the policy, he said NDS1 entail SMEs to play a more pronounced role in employment creation and the establishment of rural industry systems through the usage of local resources.
“Government’s expects this sector to make significant contributions towards improving provincial per capita incomes and the gross domestic product,” said Dr Gondo.
Currently, Dr Gondo and his team are conducting dissemination workshops on the policy across the country.
District awareness campaigns for the policy will be conducted in the near future.
