Zambia has potential for high economic growth, says SMEs Minister

Minister of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Elias Mubanga says Zambia has potential for high economic growth because of its rich natural resource endowment and youthful population.

Mr. Mubanga said Zambia’s potential has been hindered by declining economic prospects leading to high unemployment levels experienced in the last ten years.

He said to unlock this potential for growth; Government is committed to create an enabling environment for enhancing entrepreneurship and innovation that will spur growth of viable Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Mr. Mubanga has since unveiled the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development draft policy for public scrutiny.

In the policy’s foreword, Mr. Mubanga said the 34-page document also seeks to facilitate the MSMEs’ initiatives in an inclusive and equitable manner and will be anchored on the active involvement of key stakeholders in the MSME sector.

“Zambia has potential for high economic growth because of her rich natural resource endowment and youthful population. However, the country has in the past ten years experienced declining economic prospects leading to high unemployment levels coupled with declining standards of living. To unlock this potential for growth, the Government is committed to create an enabling environment for enhancing entrepreneurship and innovation that will spur growth of viable Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Innovative and viable enterprises will contribute to economic growth, job creation and retention of resources within the country,” Mr. Mubanga wrote.

“During the implementation of the 2010 to 2019, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Policy, strides were made to address the challenges that have for a long time hindered the development of MSMEs in Zambia. The overall Policy objective of achieving a vibrant, dynamic sector that contributes 20 percent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 30 percent annually to the creation of decent employment by the year 2015 was not obtained. Instead, the MSMEs sector contribution to employment continued to decline.”

“This can partly be attributed to policy inconsistencies, and global and local developments that rendered the Policy ineffective. Therefore, the review of the MSME Policy was prompted by the need to align it to respond to developments in the local and global environment. Among the key developments is the establishment of the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development to promote the development and growth of MSMEs in a coordinated manner,” he noted.

Mr. Mubanga said the policy provides the framework to resolve the perennial problems that stifle innovation and entrepreneurship.

He added that equally the policy will promote innovative ways of supporting start-ups and existing enterprises in all sectors and coordinate the MSME Sector for sustainable economic growth and job creation.

“The Policy will thus focus on creating an enabling environment that will spur entrepreneurship and make it easy for Zambians, particularly youths and women to start and sustain their businesses. The Policy, therefore, provides the framework to resolve the perennial problems that stifle innovation and entrepreneurship on one hand and on other hand promote innovative ways of supporting start-ups and existing enterprises in all sectors and coordinate the MSME Sector for sustainable economic growth and job creation,” Mr. Mubanga said.

He concluded:”The Policy also seeks to facilitate the MSMEs’ initiatives in an inclusive and equitable manner and will be anchored on the active involvement of key stakeholders in the MSME sector. The MSME Development Policy shall be implemented in line with various policies and development initiatives that have a bearing on MSME development. The Policy will be closely aligned with other Government initiatives outlined in the medium- and long-term National Development Plans.”