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Mutsawashe Mashandure–Herald Correspondent 

Women should be gainfully empowered and enabled to participate effectively in national development processes, Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, said yesterday.

She was speaking in Harare at the Women Open Market Day and Exhibition organised by OWIT Zimbabwe in collaboration with Ecobank, Elevate, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development and all women business membership organisations.

The open market day was designed to be a prime platform for all progressive women in international trade and a good opportunity to network, share experiences, and exchange ideas on how to move ahead in business and be export competitive.

It ran under the theme, “Leaving no one and no place behind”.

Minister Mutsvangwa, who was guest of honour, said the day was aimed at empowering women at the grassroots level and promoting income-generating activities to improve livelihoods and alleviate poverty. 

“My passion is to see women gainfully empowered and enabled to participate freely and effectively in the development process, in line with the Ministry’s mandate, NDS 1 (the National Development Strategy 1) and Vision 2030,” she said.

“Our population is made up of 52 percent women, who play multiple roles in the economy of Zimbabwe as traders, workers, producers, caregivers, and taxpayers.

“There are 3,4 million MSMES (micro small and medium enterprises) in Zimbabwe, and 56 percent of them are women.”

Minister Mutsvangwa said MSMES are the engine of growth in Zimbabwe, as they contribute over 60 percent to Gross Domestic Product.

She added that the Government is developing innovative ways to advance gender equality and empowerment of women, facilitate the achievement of sustainable development goals, and come up with innovative approaches that remove the “business as usual mentality”.

In 2017, the Government established the Zimbabwe Women’s Microfinance Bank, which provides tailor-made and affordable financial resources to women for purposes of income-generating projects or business start-ups. Government also established the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Revolving Fund aimed at enabling women to access loans.

Minister Mutsvangwa called on women to approach the ministry’s district offices in order to benefit from the funds and other programmes.

She added that her ministry is working with local authorities and development partners for the development of safe and gender-responsive workspaces for women producers and traders.

Government has also played a critical role in empowering women through business and technical skills development, technology transfer, and value addition of agricultural and local resource endowments.

Women at the exhibition were implored to be innovative and embrace digital solutions and online trade platforms such as e-commerce to boost their operations.

ZimTrade, which was established to promote trade, build capacity, and be competitive, is available to help women in their business activities, said Minister Mutsvangwa, and urged women to take advantage of the various programmes that include the ‘Next She Exporters’ Programme’.

“The Government is training enterprises on business, technical, and trade-related skills such as registration and use of the Comesa 50 Million African Women Speak online platform, where you can get information on markets and business partners,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.