Why Zimbabwe government must get behind small businesses and informal traders

Zimbabwean economy at the moment (2015) is being driven by the small businesses and informal traders. With Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate at around 80% and literacy rate being the highest in Africa at 90%, it is unimaginable the number of learned people on the streets.

All these educated people who have not found employment have employed themselves by starting business ventures whether formal and informal. They are actually making a living from those ventures.

One thing to reckon is Zimbabwe is busy at work. After the depression-hyperinflation era, most people acquired entrepreneurial skills. These are skills that came out of necessity but are really important and invaluable life skills.Most people are harnessing these skills to further their financial lives in the wake of lack of jobs.

Though the government has made some efforts to support enterprenuers and small businesses in Zimbabwe, the effort is not enough.

Much of the resources are channelled to established companies and less goes to small businesses but small business and start-ups is the way to get growth in the economy and to create more jobs. This needs to be backed by more bank lending and start-up loans for entrepreneurs.

Richard Branson notes that sustainable growth in the economy will come from private sector investing to create jobs. To get the growth from the private sector, he says, there is need to get behind the small and medium-sized businesses that are the engines of any healthy economy. To do this they need investment and finance and that comes from the big banks. The politicians talk of encouraging lending. He asserts the need for action to match that rhetoric. Government needs to focus on smaller businesses and find ways of making it easier to set up a business in the Zimbabwe. It should look at reducing business rates and regulation on small and start-up companies.

There is also need to encourage more entrepreneurship from the next generation – and focus on giving them the basic business and money management skills as part of the schools curriculum.

http://entrepreneurcrunch.com/becoming-an-entrepreneur/
.zimeye.com/zimra-to-tax-raid-small-businesses/