This Revised National Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Development Policy, updating the 2009 Policy, aims to address challenges in the MSME sector and bolster its role in economic development, wealth creation, and job generation. It seeks to enhance MSME participation and competitiveness, boost production and productivity, and create a conducive business environment to lower operational costs. Recognizing MSMEs as vital for poverty reduction and improving household livelihoods, the Policy aims to overcome constraints hindering their development, providing a framework for sustainable growth and contributing through coordinated national initiatives to Zambia's socio-economic transformation. The document's specific objectives aim to (i) foster a thriving MSME Sector contributing to employment and wealth creation through facilitating access to finance and business infrastructure, promoting participation in value chains, enhancing access to markets, improving entrepreneurial capacity, providing business development services, formalizing operations, and setting competitiveness standards; (ii) enhance MSMEs' role in economic diversification by fostering growth in non-traditional sectors and promoting participation in key economic areas; (iii) cultivate innovation culture among MSMEs, promoting awareness of intellectual property rights for patenting innovations; (iv) encourage technological adoption among MSMEs through modern technology and collaboration with public and research institutions; and (v) establish an integrated coordinating framework for MSME development programs, including mechanisms for coordination of empowerment interventions and an Integrated Management Information System. The Policy highlights some cross-cutting issues affecting MSMEs including gender, youth, disability, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, and climate change.
Zambia · 2023-01-01