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Marvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
THE Zimbabwe National Chamber of Small to Medium Enterprises has welcomed the government’s plans to formalise the sector saying there is a need for the emerging businesses to contribute to the fiscus by remitting taxes.Speaking at a fundraising luncheon held at Gwanda District Club recently, the president of the chamber Daniel Chinyemba said the country had a vibrant SMEs sector hence the need for it to contribute to the fiscus through taxation.

“I can say SMEs are a bit shy to pay taxes to the  government but as the sector we cannot run away from the formalisation agenda and we cannot remain informal. SMEs really need to contribute to the fiscus for the development of the economy,” he said.

The government is working on programmes regarding the formalisation of the SMEs sector in order to increase their contribution to the fiscus through taxes. An estimated $7 billion is believed to be circulating outside the formal banking system.

Although SMEs make up the larger chunk of the economy, most of the players in the sector are operating informally.

“However, the government must come up with a tax framework conducive to the small to medium businesses. It must be affordable to the SMEs so that after five years, we will be the big businesses of Zimbabwe,” said Chinyemba.

He expressed satisfaction over the business operations by SMEs in the mining town but said they required financial support.

“Unfortunately, financial institutions are not forthcoming but I am impressed because SMEs here are vibrant and very innovative. There is however, a need for them to speak with one voice,” Chinyemba said.

The Gwanda Chamber of SMEs secretary Nqobizitha Sibanda echoed the same sentiments saying the formalisation of the sector was a welcome development that would positively impact on the economy.

“As much as SMEs have to contribute to the fiscus, we don’t want a radical approach but that which would support their growth. We don’t want a decision that will destroy these small businesses,” he said.

Sibanda said SMEs in Gwanda had made strides in organising themselves into groups in accordance with the various sectors of the economy.

“Now that SMEs are organised, some banks have even shown some willingness to support us,” said Sibanda.

The major challenge faced with SMEs in Gwanda is that of operating space but the Gwanda municipality representative, Councillor Thulani Moyo, said the local authority was eager to support the sector through providing the SMEs with space to operate from.