CEEC RECEIVES OVER K30 BILLION WORTH OF APPLICATIONS FOR FUNDING

By Lumbiwe Mwanza

MY ministry has received over K30 billion worth of applications for enterprises to have access to finances since the New Dawn Government came into office, Minister of small and medium enterprises Elias Mubanga has said.

Mr. Mubanga said that out of these applications, the Government had only given out funding worth slightly over K1 billion.

He said that it was encouraging that so many applications had been received saying this was an indication that Zambians were committed to exploring business opportunities and ready to create jobs in the country.

“Since the UPND Government came into office from 2021-2023, the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) has received K30 billion worth of applications from enterprises to have access to finances and from that less than a billion have been approved. The huge number of applications wanting funding is very encouraging as it is a sign that many Zambians are exploring the many business opportunities and seeking support,” Mr. Mubanga said.

He acknowledged that there was a huge appetite among Zambians wanting to work for themselves but the main challenge was access to finances.

He said that the Government was committed to ensuring that challenges around access to finance among the SMEs were addressed by putting up modalities that could capture business projects in need of support.

“As the Government, we are not just sitting looking at the high number of applications coming in from entrepreneurs in the country but efforts of mobilizing funds have been instituted. As an institution, we are in search of partners that can help in the partnering and ensuring that resources are provided for the local SMEs,” he said.

He said that even the banks had committed to partner in enhancing access to funds to the SMEs but that the major problem was high interest rates.

He however commended banks such ZANACO, ABSA, among others, for coming up with solutions to assist SMEs saying efforts aimed at supporting SMEs should continue being scaled up to create a more inclusive economy.