Indigenous black businesses for patience among SMEs, call for partnerships
Indigenous Businesspersons Association of Malawi (IBAM) has advised fellow players in the industry to develop resilience in the wake of Covid-19 and collaboration to take up available government business opportunities.
Ibam president Mike Mlombwa encouraged the business community to learn from the survival mechanisms Chinese business players used to survive in a similar situation while one of the local business operators Kate Kamwangala said they met to share knowledge on how to “successfully bid for the government business”.
Mlombwa said in an interview: “China just like Rwanda were once impoverished nations due to tribal wars and other negative economic effects. However, the two economies have blossomed and thrived because its general citizenry developed a thick skin to those negative and compromising effects,” he said in an interview
He advised the business community to borrow a leaf from the two economies which have grown despite facing hurdles in the process.
“It should be borne in our mind that Covid-19 pandemic shall one day be wiped out and become history. In whatever undertaking; there are setbacks; be it wars, pandemics or plaques, political and economic instability, amongst others,” he said.
Mlombwa, therefore, said it was imperative to stand firm amidst such adversity to remain relevant to the economy.
He, however, supported Vice President Saulos Chilima’s recent public lecture which called for mindset change; saying it is high time business persons started operating as business unusual.
In a separate interview, Kamwangala admitted that some indigenous black businesses have over the years been failing to succeed in winning government contracts because of working in isolation.
The Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act (PPDA) Section 44 stipulates that 60 percent of contracts under the national competitive bidding should be awarded to indigenous black Malawians and the rest to others.
Said Kamwangala: “The 60/40 policy is in place and government will not come to tell us to apply for the opportunities, which is why we said let us mobilise ourselves to discuss challenges and opportunities and map the way forward.
“We want to be aggregating our resources to solve capital requirement challenges which remain a big issue.”
Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority director general Elias Hausi challenged indigenous black businesses to get organised to reap the benefits of the 60/40 government policy.
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60/40 looks good for indigenous Malawians. Partnerships is the way to go to boost capitalization, IBAM leadership has outlived its shelf-life, we need new blood to steer the ship out of muddy waters.
The IBAM president has overstayed his position and is no longer relevant we need new blood with new ideas .We know how he acquired his wealth it was through dubious means under the UDF government they defrauded the government through their stationery business.
Who are the members of IBAM ? Can the life president give the line up of the executive of IBAM .