VNc#1426:
UPND’s former Finance Chief’s confessions on i-MSMEs
By Victor Nyasulu
Last week, Zambia’s Finance and National Planning Minister Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane
acknowledged that access to affordable financing remains a major structural challenge for
indigenous (pre-text mine) Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (i-MSMEs). He also strongly
criticized the culture of defaulting on public loans, warning that it undermines trust and deprives
others of support.
The remarkable key highlights from Dr. Musokotwane’s recent economic reflections include:
- Affordable Financing: He admitted that securing affordable capital remains difficult for
SMEs, acknowledging that the high cost of borrowing continues to constrain business
growth and economic production:
There simply has been no political will to assist Zambian i-MSMEs by the outgoing HH-
led government period. Sad.
•The Danger of Defaults: The Minister criticized the entitlement and culture of
defaulting on government and public loans. He emphasized that when borrowers fail to
repay these accessible public loans, it ultimately deprives other entrepreneurs of the
opportunity to access financing:
Of course defaults of any level affects everyone in the economy both the macro and
micro economy since small defaults add up very quickly to affect us all and then reflect at
the macro-level. However, this outgoing HH-led GRZ have been uninterested to structure
capital deals that are difficult to default on. For example those i-MSMEs in need of
capital equipment could have had equipment bought for them (after due diligence)
without money physically going into the bank accounts of the concerned entities. With
the said equipment supplied on loan coupling that with working capital facilities like
overdraft facilities secured by GRZ would have definitely produced some i-MSMEs for
the GRZ to show case now as they make their closing arguments for re-election.
•Alternative Funding Channels: To help bridge the financing gap, he pointed to government efforts through existing schemes like the Constituency Development Fund and various community.
My comment on this matter is that the UPND-led GRZ has simply been casual and uncommitted to actually help i-MSMEs to start, grow and thrive when compared to their tax incentives given to big foreign corporates! It is public knowledge.
The above paragraphs drawn from the internet having been originally quoted by this newspaper
reflect what lawyers would term ‘trite law’!
My issue though is that almost 5 years later the
government of the Republic of Zambia-GRZ is not showcasing the many indigenous MSMEs (i-MSMEs) that have grown and thrived because the Hakainde led government is in situ! This is very sad indeed given the fact that a whole ministry dedicated to i-MSMEs and Cooperatives was created by the current government. Surely, they should be in a hurry to show off how i-MSMEs are better off now than 4.5 years ago!
Here is a huge lesson to the new GRZ that shall follow the momentous elections in our country
in ‘90 days’ time.
This is the lesson: there shall simply be no excuse for not forcefully doing something practical to finally get Zambian i-MSMEs going come September, 2026!
Naluta mafumu, Chiuta wamutumbikani! __________________________________________________________________
The Author can be reached on +260 955 746 997 or via email at vpmn69@gmail.com
