by Zivanai Dhewa

Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development, Sithembiso Nyoni is set to launch the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB)’s Small and Medium Enterprise support programme in Harare tomorrow.

It was revealed in a press statement that,  “As part of the inception of the Bank’s SME Programme, TDB and UNTU Capital are signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) centred on the entities’ collaboration in addressing the SMEs-financing gap in Zimbabwe.”

The TDB programme is designed to support innovative, impactful and scalable SMEs, given the realisation that SMEs play a critical role in generating meaningful development impact and advancing sustainable growth in member states it serves.

According to a 2017 statement by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Dr John Mangudya, SMEs contribute up to 60% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and represent 73% of its total work force, while the World Bank reports that emerging market SMEs globally contribute to up to 60% of total employment, four out of five new jobs created, and as much as 40% of Gross Domestic Product.

In that vein, US$3 million has been allocated to TDB hand in hand with partners such as UNTU to pilot SMEs programs in Zimbabwe, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi and Zambia.  These investments are made available mainly for investment into SMEs particularly those led by youths and women through loans, guarantees and capacity building interventions in financial service, agribusiness, mining, leather and tanning as well as in the manufacturing sector.