Over 600 vendors courts Chakwera at Sanjika Palace, Malawi leader reaffirms continued support to SMEs
Local vendors from Southern Region, totaling to over 600, met and interacted with President Lazarus Chakwera on Thursday at Sanjika Palace in Blantyre to discuss and share notes on what government is doing to enhance the capacity of their businesses.
President Chakwera underlined that his administration will stay on track in implementing business-friendly policies that are aimed at building the capacity of small scale businesses in the country.
Against inconveniences such as Covid-19, Cyclone Freddy and the cholera outbreak, Chakwera emphasized that in the face of all these calamities his administration has remained committed to ensure that they grow stronger.
“You have already showed resilience and we are here to support you with opportunities such as government contracts,” he said.
Chakwera also encouraged the vendors to utilise and diversify their businesses when they obtain loans from National Economic Empowerment Fund (Neef) which he emphasized that once they follow all due processes, there is enough capital to drive growth of small businesses.
“The goal is to grow the economy and there is no excuse for not repaying the Neef loans if you get them,” he said adding that so far Neef has disbursed over K86 billion to about 158,000 businesses.
The vendors comprised among others, car dealers, tailors, minibuses and call boys, timber traders not forgetting consumable and non-consumable merchants.
All the groups were accorded an opportunity to present to the Malawi leader pertinent issues affecting their various trades.
One of the minibus drivers complained to the President that Road Traffic delay to issue plastic licenses is creating series of problems with traffic.
