SMEs crucial in 1 million jobs creation, says minister

Minister of Trade and Industry Mark Katsonga says small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are crucial in the creation of the much touted one million jobs.

Speaking in Mzuzu on Monday when he opened phase four training of SMEs on standardisation organised by Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS), the minister said it is possible to create one million jobs if local manufacturers improve their production standards and quality.

“Local manufacturers should take advantage of the opening up of Africa as a single free trade area and increase exports,” he said.

Katsonga said SMEs should embrace funding opportunities, including Agriculture Commercialisation Project to boost output.

“The on-takers complain about finance when we have lots of opportunities. Maybe government can partly take the blame for not publicising these facilities more,” he said.

Small and Medium Enterprise Development Institute chief executive officer Rodrick Chattaika urged SMEs to produce quality products to penetrate the international market.

MBS director general Symon Mandala has since proposed the creation of a platform that includes the standards body, Ministry of Trade and Industry, commercial banks and SMEs to deal with the challenges that affect small businesses, including access to finance.

MBS has trained 306 SMEs on standardisation nationwide.

Figures from the Ministry of Trade and Industry show that SMEs employ about 1.8 million people, but face challenges such as access to finance, markets, infrastructure, product development, marketing and inadequate labour skills.