Small and Medium Enterprises Development Institute (Smedi) say micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) plays a critical role in the country’s socio-economic development.

Speaking last week in Mchinji during the graduation of 14 MSMEs after a three-month business management intensive training, Smedi acting regional manager Dorothy Kanungudza said small businesses need to have access to information on new knowledge about trending microeconomic niches.

She said: “Business requires a set of skills and this entails record-keeping, understanding of the market dynamics, loss minimisation as well as profit maximisation.

“We engaged people with established MSMEs on how they can grow their businesses using proper business management skills because even these small businesses matter to microcosmic stability of the economy.”

Kanungudza encouraged MSMEs to be compliant, bankable, register their businesses and remit taxes to Malawi Revenue Authority.

One of the trainee MSMEs, Andida Mando, commended Smedi for the training, saying he was happy to be part of it.

He said the skills acquired will help participants make better decisions that will help their businesses to survive even during economic downturns.

Said Mando: “It has been interesting and a wonderful experience because when we were coming here, we felt that we were familiar with the businesses that we do every day.

“However, during orientation, we went through various stages of a business and that will help us for a lifetime.”

Japanese International Cooperation Agency (Jica) has been funding trainings, which Smedi has implemented in partnership with commercial banks and Savings and Credit Cooperatives in identifying registered MSMEs.

Jica policy adviser Yoshinari Yamamoto said they want to see small businesses graduating to more stable and self-propelling businesses.

“We know that micro, small and medium enterprises have great potential to grow into massive business brands, but several constraints come in their way in their quest to such ambitions.

“The training programme was designed to create MSMEs’ resilience so that they become efficient, stable and self-propelling,” he said.

The training programme, which attracted 14 business categories, ran from August to November.

Apart from the MSMEs, Jica is also training cooperatives and value-addition groups.

The MSMEs learnt how to formulate business plans, handle financial issues in their businesses as well as handle customers.

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