GOVERNMENT is not selective when empowering SMEs in Zambia, all deserving beneficiaries are empowered, Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Permanent Secretary Subeta Mutelo has said.
Ms. Mutelo told The Scoop that all the empowerment programs were meant for deserving citizens in need financial support.
She also disclosed that the process for applying for the loans such as marketer booster loan among others had been simplified.
She explained that the application process provides specific guidelines that needed to be followed for applicants to be successful.
“There is this wrong perception that empowerment loans that the Government continues to give to SMEs are only meant for a selected few. This is a wrong perception.
I must mention that there are times when for example a group of traders apply for the marketer booster loan and so it so happens that some are given and others not. That does not mean those that have gotten have been favoured,” Ms. Mutelo said.