Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
SMALL and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Bulawayo that produce and supply different products and services have started preparing for the opening of schools next week.
Schools are opening on 9 January.
In an interview, a tailor, Mrs Florence Nyathi who runs a schools’ uniforms SME said preparations were underway to meet the schools opening date.
“We have had to cut our holiday short so that we can start preparing for the opening of schools. I sell uniforms to different schools and this is likely to be our busy week as schools open soon. We want to make sure we have all types and sizes of uniforms available when parents and guardians prepare for schools opening,” she said.
She, however, bemoaned the flooding of the market with cheap school wear that does not usually meet the basic standards.
Mrs Nyathi said some parents would then be trying to make ends meet after paying fees and getting stationery, thereby settling for the cheaper but low quality products.
“We are too many in this business of producing school uniforms. We meet a lot of challenges; someone can say their uniforms are US$2 while you are saying US$4, considering the production costs. As you know, people have an inclination towards cheaper products, which sometimes will be of poor quality material and this affects our businesses,” she said.
“At the same time there are these cheap imports that flood the market which then compete with our products. As SMEs, these are some of the challenges that hinder our growth and at the end of the day we are living from hand to mouth.”
Mrs Stella Ndlovu who is into sportswear shared the same sentiments, stating that as SMEs they were in need of cushioning and market linkages.
“Preparation for schools opening no longer excites us as it used to do back in the days. If you go around town these dollar deals shops are now everywhere. Some of us source the materials we use outside the country to make quality products, however, those shops have taken over our clients, we are failing to survive,” she said.
“Maybe it’s about time that the Government intervenes. Pavements are flooded with people selling the same products we are selling in shops this then defeats the purpose of our existence. We need financial cushioning for us to grow our businesses and access to markets for our products.”
In the printing sector, Mr Sabelo Dlodlo said as they prepare for schools opening, power cuts tend to be a challenge.
“We need power to smoothly run our operations and we do hope there will be less power cuts so that we are able to meet our targets and meet deadlines of our different customers. Among other challenges being also short supply of raw materials and stiff competition from other players in the sector, however, we are hoping 2024 will be a better year for our businesses to grow,” he said.
Bulawayo Chamber of SMEs vice-chairperson Ms Sithabile Bhebhe said though SMEs were preparing for the opening of schools, some were facing challenges such as payment delays.
“It is not only late payments from customers that affect SMEs, but also the mode of payment as some SMEs get tenders from schools and some institutions with some paying using local currency and if they delay making their payments, the value fluctuates based on the exchange rate. This then affects SMEs when they want to source foreign currency to buy raw materials,” she said.
“Estate agents also charge their rentals in foreign currency, which therefore means the little foreign currency that the SMEs get goes directly to rental payments.”
SMEs contributes meaningfully to the provincial economies leading to national economic development.
According to the MSME 2021 Survey, the sector is made up of 3,4 million businesses countrywide and provided full-time employment to over 4.8 million people. The 2022 Finscope SME Survey, highlighted that MSMEs contributed US$ 8,2 billion to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
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