Finantial expects see potential

THE potential growth of Small to Medium Enterprises is yet to be fully realised in Zimbabwe, a financial expert has said. The managing partner of Baker Tilly Gwatidzo Chartered Accountants, Mr Phibion Gwatidzo, said this recently during the launch of the firm’s Mutare office.

 Mr Gwatidzo said in Zimbabwe, SMEs were now the major employers, but most of them were owner-managed and lacked ethical business management practices to ensure sustainable growth.

He urged SMEs to become more professional and use independent financial services for specialised help to ensure sustainable growth.

“SMEs are now the economic growth hub of this nation considering the continuous collapse of the big companies due to recapitalisation failures in the wake of the liquidity crunch in our country.

he further added “We, therefore, need to come to terms with the fact that we are now an SME market. However, the SME players need to also move from primitive ‘tuckshop’ business practices and be more professional to expand their businesses and increase returns''.

SMEs are likely to produce thousands of dollars with good managment

 More generally the development of SME is seen as accelerating achievement of wider economic and socio-economic objectives, including  poverty alleviation.

The recently launched BAZ/ZEPARU established that:"Banks should thus engage the informal sector players and embrace the idea of fostering partnerships and clusters. Under this arrangement informal sector players, through the assistance of banks, pool their resources by bringing their capital and expertise together to make a meaningful investment''

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