The Small and Medium Enterprice Association of Zimbabwe (SMEAZ) has unlocked funding facilities targeted at addressing Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) funding needs in the country.
According to the SMEAZ blog, the facilities, which are being supplied by the Reserve Bank, are the culmination of years of lobbying and advocacy activities.
“The Reserve Bank facilities that have previously been advised on, and for which the market was awaiting operational modalities are now accessible. These are namely the export (cross-border) Facility, Women Empowerment Fund, Business Linkages Fund, Horticulture Fund and also Gold Fund,” states the SMEAZ.
During the Vessels of Virtue Expo in May, Edna Mukurazhizha had tipped the women of these funds advising women to take advantage of the funds.
“I have worked for many years in banks and most of the proposals that appear are for men, ” Mukurazhizha said.
Funding is one of the problems that entrepreneurs have been facing in Zimbabwe. The facilities have been unveiled as a starting point for the development and the deployment of further facilities such as order finance, working capital finance as well as asset finance.
The expectation is that one will be able to graduate from the initial facilities indicated above to more substantive and long term facilities.