The Sunday News
Dickson Mangena, Business Reporter
BULAWAYO is set to become home to the CBZ International Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Indaba as the event will now be held annually, an official has said.
Speaking at the inaugural CBZ International SMES indaba held in the city last week, CBZ group chief executive officer Mr Never Nyemudzo said the event will now become part of the company calendar and will be held in the city. The indaba was held under the theme “Unlocking Innovative SME Development”.
“This is certainly going to be a yearly event and I can assure you that we are getting on board more partners. It will be more informative and more helpful going forward,” said Mr Nyemudzo.
“Every March right here in Bulawayo there is going to be a CBZ International SME indaba. I take this opportunity to invite other corporates who are interested in the SMEs sector to join hands together with CBZ so that we can have a meaningful contribution to the sector,” said Mr Nyemudzo.
He said there was no special reason the bank chose Bulawayo as the host of the Indaba except that their SMEs segment is headquartered in the city.
“There is no particular reason for choosing Bulawayo, but I will tell you that we are headquartered in Harare with eight branches and that is where most of our activities take place and Bulawayo has five branches and that’s also where some of our activities take place. It is where we chose our SMEs to be headquartered.”
He said the bank’s support to SMEs was unquestionable as at the moment, $36 million in loans was in the hands of the small businesses.
“We have advanced technical and financial support in excess of $156 million since the adoption of the multi-currency in 2009.
Our dedicated SMEs loan book currently stands at $36 million, and we have every intention to grow the loan book through providing A well-structured loan facility,” said Mr Nyemudzo.
Speaking at the same event, Small to Medium Enterprises and Co-operatives Development Deputy Minister Noveti Muponora applauded the strides taken by the financial services sector to support SMEs.
“May I applaud the great strides taken by the financial services sector in implementing the financial inclusion strategy by promoting efficient, effective and sound financial capable of satisfying the needs and requirements of the sector,” he said.
Deputy Minister Muponora said SMEs have become the engine for economic growth and development in developing countries including Zimbabwe.
“As you are aware, SMEs have become the engine for economic growth and development in developing countries including Zimbabwe by virtue of their veritable contribution to employment creation activities, income generation, national development and their linkages to all facets of the economy,” said Deputy Minister Muponora.
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