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Precious Manomano Herald Reporter

Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been called on to adopt technology and digital marketing as this will provide protection on the spread of Covid-19, while connecting with potential customers internationally.

The call was made by Deputy Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Jennipher Mhlanga while she was officially opening an SMEs International Expo in Harare yesterday.

Businesses are slowly finding their way round Covid-19 constraints with a number of firms devising effective business models and new strategies to overcome the negative impacts of the global pandemic.

Covid-19 has disrupted the environment and the pandemic took a heavy toll on most businesses globally.

Deputy Minister Mhlanga said Government was committed to supporting SMES through various initiatives and encouraged women to use digital platforms for marketing their products during these Covid-19 times.

“We continue to use digital platforms for women in order to do their marketing during this time of Covid-19,” she said. “Dubai 2020 is in progress and we have made sure that we have taken our best and we continue to encourage our women to go online digital platforms to market their products.

“Many of our quality products should be send to Dubai 2020. It’s better for them to be turned away, so that they are exposed to these international platforms and we exchange in terms of product quality.”

Deputy Minister Mhlanga said SMEs faced challenges of having limited access to markets and the expo provided a platform for interaction and sharing of ideas on how to develop crucial set up of the economy. She said SMEs played a key role in transition and developing countries as they constituted a source of employment and generated significant domestic and export earnings.

The SMEs provided a major source of employment and generated significant domestic and export earnings, she said.

SMEs face a more uncertain competitive environment than larger companies — they experience more variable rates of return and higher rates of failures and are comparatively less equipped in terms of both human and capital resources to withstand economic adversities.

They also face the problem of inadequate accounting systems, which undermines the accessibility and reliability of information concerning profitability and repayment capacity. SMEs usually have insufficient personal savings, resulting in low initial promoters’ equity. There is also lack of reliable information on the operations of the majority of them and inability of entrepreneurs to articulate business plans due to lack of sophistication and skills.