The Sunday News
Bianca Mlilo, Sunday News Reporter
THE Ministry of Sport and Recreation has entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Small to Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development which will see small to medium entrepreneurs contracted to supply uniforms to football teams.
Speaking after a tour of the SMEs centre in Bulawayo yesterday, Small to Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development Minister Sithembiso Nyoni said this was only available to registered SMES as part of efforts to encourage formalisation. The SMEs centre houses the leather, clothing and textile clusters. Numerous other incentives, she said, had been put in place to promote the formalisation of small businesses.
“We’ve spoken to the Minister of Sport and Recreation, (Makhosini) Hlongwane, and he is going to make sure that each football club has uniforms,” said Minister Nyoni.
“We’re going to have a contract, ministry to ministry so that all uniforms for local clubs are made by SMEs, nothing must be imported.”
Minister Nyoni said clothing and textile clusters would be responsible for sewing the uniforms for the soccer teams and encouraged the SMEs to produce quality goods for the sake of competitiveness.
As part of efforts to ensure that the entrepreneurs produce quality and competitive products, they would be taken through training seminars at an SMEs incubation centre.
The incubation system is a concept in which entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs are trained in a business area of their interest on different periods of time ranging between three to 18 months depending on the complexity of each particular line of business.
Upon successful completion of training, the graduates would be assisted with funding to enable them to procure their own machinery and venture into business.
The centre is expected to house 26 different manufacturing technologies ranging from food, electrical accessories and construction.
The establishment of the centre was made possible through a grant of $1 million, which would go towards the provision of equipment and technical expertise.
“We would like you to register your small companies so that we can also be able to fund you from Secdco (Small Enterprises Development Corporation) because this time Sedco will not fund unregistered companies,” said Cde Nyoni.
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, often blasted by corporates and small companies alike for its ruthless revenue collection efforts, added Minister Nyoni, had promised a tax holiday for SMEs which register between now and June. Minister Nyoni also said they had engaged Old Mutual Zimbabwe to avail workspace for SMEs by reducing the rentals at its various properties which would then be used by the entrepreneurs.
The formalisation process of SMEs is envisaged to boost Zimbabwe’s shrinking tax base as companies are either downsizing or closing shop, with the SMEs sector taking over as the country’s biggest employer.
A 2012 Finscope Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Survey in Zimbabwe indicates that there are 2,8 million SME owners employing 2,9 million people, translating into 5,7 million people dependent on the sector, contributing more than 60 percent to the Gross Domestic Product.
@BiancaMlilo
