By ANDREW PHIRI? –
CHARTERED Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) Africa managing director Andre Coetzee has called on good practices by purchasing and supply practitioners to change the face of Africa.
Mr Coetzee said professionals in this sector were best positioned to take Africa to the higher levels.
Mr Coetzee said in Livingstone when he addressed procurement officers that Zambia had the potential to develop its purchasing and supply sector which was doing well.
“Zambia is doing the right thing, the professionals should ensure that they strive to take the country and Africa to the next level,” Mr Coetzee said.
There was need for more collaboration in the sector so the best practices and information could be extracted.
Zambia was a good country but people should not take the peace and tranquillity the country was enjoying for granted.
Meanwhile, a Lusaka-based senior consultant in business management Jones Kalyongwe said youths should not rely on Government for jobs but instead be more innovative and find a way to sustain their lives.
Mr Kalyongwe said it was sad that procurement officers in the country were not helping the Micro Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (MSMEs) to grow.
The MSMEs had the potential to contribute to national development and procurement officers must help in their growth despite people in MSMEs getting skills training from TEVET.
“TEVET has trained most youths who are in MSMEs, why is it that they still not doing anything, they still want to blame Government for not getting a job, they need to be innovative,” Mr Kalyongwe said.
He said there was need to explore opportunities that would be able to help the MSME in the country.
The MSMEs were also contributing greatly to the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“We need to change the way things are being done, the barriers in the law are not cast and concrete, we can always bend a bit to get our desired results,” Mr Kalyongwe said.
He said there was also need for banks and other money lending institutions to be more flexible with their interest rates to allow for more MSMEs to borrow and expand their capital base.