By ANDREW PHIRI-
THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has called for the promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to create more jobs and mitigate poverty levels in the country.
SEC chief executive officer, Wala Chabala said SMEs were key drivers of Zambia’s economy and had potential to graduate to big corp orate companies and ultimately create more jobs.
Dr Chabala said the largest number of businesses in the country was SMEs and that there was need for their growth to be supported.
Speaking in Livingstone on Wednesday during the launch of alternative markets on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE), Dr Chabala said there was need for SMEs to list their shares on the LuSE in order for them to access capital markets.
Dr Chabala said there was need for Zambian’s to start and own businesses instead of waiting for foreign investors to come and invest in the country.
‘’We need to drive our own economy and we can only do that through capital funding and this can be realised if business people understood the need to list with the LuSE,’’ Dr Chabala said.
LuSE acting CEO, Priscilla Sampa said her organisation had embarked on a country wide sensitization campaign of capital markets because there were complaints from most SMEs of not accessing easy capital and funding.
Ms Sampa said the SMEs had complained of high interest rates whenever they went to the banks to get loans.
She said LuSE had come up with reduced requirements and interests for SMEs so that they could start small and end up in the mainstream corporate environment.