THE Government says it has received funding from regional financier, the African Development Bank (AfDB), towards supporting SMEs in the country’s beef and leather value chain. The project is targeted at reviving the local beef and leather industry. “Government has received grant funds from the African Development Bank’s Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA) and Transitional Support Facility (TSF) towards the cost of the Zimbabwe: Support to the beef and leather value chain technical assistance project,” said the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in a statement.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce intends to use an initial portion of the grant to engage a consultancy firm that will assist players in the beef and leather sector to enhance their capacities as well as access export markets. It however did not specify the total size of the AfDB grant. The project is part of the Ministry’s broader strategy of promoting the development of industrial value chains.
Earlier this year, director for International Trade in the Ministry Ms Beatrice Mtetwa said the programme was in line with the broader Zim-Asset goals.
“Under the value addition and beneficiation cluster of Zim-Asset, the Ministry is identifying and developing value chains to achieve value addition in different sectors. “Prioritised value chains include the following: leather sector, cotton-to-clothing, pharmaceutical sector and metal value chain.
“The leather sector strategy was launched in 2013, and the ministry is focusing on facilitating implementation of the strategy whose areas of focus include facilitating the establishment of clusters and setting up of a fund for SMEs,” she said.
The ministry’s mobilisation of funds for such projects has been broad though.
In May last year, the Ministry of Industry submitted several projects in response to the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC)’s 6th Call for Proposals, and in respect of that the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Corporation (SMEDCO)’s Leather Value Addition Project (to the tune of $1,5 million) passed the screening process and recommended for approval by the CFC Governing Council.
It has also since submitted projects from Agribank, CBZ and Matabeleland North Women Livestock Co-operatives Society for funding under the CFC 7th Call for Proposals. — BH24