VNc#1526: Beyond Capital —
Why Zambia’s i-MSMEs Need Markets, Not Mercy
By Victor PM Nyasulu
regarding the struggles of indigenous MSMEs (i-MSMEs), especially the challenge of affordable
financing. As argued then, while access to capital matters, money alone has never built
sustainable enterprises.
Today, let us go deeper.
The real question is this: Even if every Zambian i-MSME received affordable financing tomorrow morning, would they survive?
My answer is simple: Many would still collapse. Why? Because businesses do not survive on
loans. Businesses survive on markets, systems, discipline, and competitiveness.
This is where successive governments—including the outgoing administration—have fundamentally misunderstood the i-MSME challenge.
A business financed without a guaranteed
route to customers is simply a delayed funeral.
Imagine giving a tailor K500,000 in affordable financing but leaving schools, hospitals,
ministries, and Defence institutions importing uniforms from abroad. Imagine financing a local
furniture maker while government offices continue buying imported desks. Imagine empowering
a Zambian agro-processor but supermarkets remain dominated by foreign shelf control. That is
not empowerment.
That is performance theatre!
The truth is that indigenous MSMEs do not principally need sympathy. They need structured
commercial opportunity. This is why I have consistently argued for a deliberate “Buy Zambian,
Build Zambian” procurement revolution.
Government remains the single largest buyer in the economy. Therefore, if government is serious
about industrializing Zambia from the bottom upward, then public procurement must
intentionally favor competent indigenous MSMEs (C-i-MSMEs). This is the practical
outworking of the Presidential rhetoric of positive discrimination in procurement for Zambian i-
MSME suppliers of goods and services. Not as charity.
But as economic strategy.
The Americans did it. The Chinese perfected it. Even emerging economies understand that local
enterprise development begins with protected market access before global competition maturity.
Why should Zambia pretend otherwise?
Of course, discipline matters too. The former Finance Minister was right to condemn loan
defaults. Defaults destroy revolving capital pools and undermine trust. But one must also ask:
Did we design financing products that actually match MSME realities? Did we understand
seasonality? Cash flow cycles? Delayed receivables? Informality risks? Or did we lazily copy
commercial banking models unsuitable for indigenous enterprise development?
A farmer should not repay like a trader. A manufacturer should not borrow like a consultant.
A startup should not be judged like an established corporate.
Policy sophistication matters.
Further, we must confront an uncomfortable truth: many Zambian i-MSMEs remain survivalist,
not scalable. Why?
- Because entrepreneurship education remains weak.
- Bookkeeping is poor.
- Governance is often absent.
- Tax literacy is limited.
- Brand discipline is weak.
- Many businesses remain owner-dependent rather than system-driven.
This is why the future government must think beyond lending. The winning formula should
include:
I. Affordable capital
II. Guaranteed procurement windows
III. Business incubation
IV. Standards certification support
V. Export readiness training
VI. Tax simplification
VII. Sector-specific financing products
VIII. Credit guarantees tied to performance
That is how ecosystems are built. Not through speeches. Not through ribbon-cutting ceremonies.
Not through election-season promises. The future belongs to serious indigenous enterprises—but
serious enterprises require serious policy. Zambia does not need i-MSMEs that merely survive.
She (Zambia) needs C-i-MSMEs that dominate.
Naluta mafumu, Chiuta wamutumbikani! _________________________________________________________________
