Minister of Industry and Trade Simplex Chithyola Banda has said the country needs to formulate legal and regulatory frameworks that can promote industrialisation by allowing small and medium enterprises to grow.
Chithyola Banda was speaking on Tuesday when he visited enterprises that are benefitting from the Financial Inclusion and Entrepreneurship Scaling Project (FInES).
The project is being implemented by the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) with funding from the World Bank.
It is aimed at increasing access to financial services and promoting entrepreneurship and capabilities of micro, small and medium enterprises in the country.
According to Chithyola Banda, stakeholders, including Parliament, need to formulate laws that will facilitate growth of businesses and promote their interests by addressing hurdles to access credit.
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He urged FInES Project managers to work towards attracting more SMEs to benefit from the fund.
“I am appealing to the management of FInES to increase the fund when it does a review of the project in September this year so that more SMEs can benefit.
Among the establishments visited were Nalipiri Eco Resort in Mulanje, Hartfield Investments and Rural Development Investments Initiatives (Rudevit) in Blantyre.
Nalipiri Eco Resort Managing Director Linda Namalomba said her establishment has managed to increase conference and accommodation rooms through the facility.
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“I have secured K100 million from FInES and have used the funds to grow my business, thereby generating jobs for our local youths,” explained Namalomba.
Rudevit Chairperson Hastings Bofomo Nyirenda said the institution secured K120 million for purchasing equipment for a fertiliser-making plant.
“We hope to have the factory up and running by the end of this year,” Nyirenda said.
