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Ministry of Industrialisation, Business, Trade and Tourism director of small and medium enterprises and cooperatives Limbikani Kachiwaya says the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Act (2024) was designed to provide a conducive environment for the sector’s growth. Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the MSME Act awareness campaign and capacity building of users on regulations for the Southern Region in Blantyre on Friday, he said the ministry wants to see entrepreneurs graduating from their current level in line with the industrialisation aspirations outlined in the Malawi 2063, the country’s long-term development plan. Said Kachiwaya: “We would like to see those that are operating at micro level graduate to small, those that are small should go to medium entrepreneurship level. So, we would want to see that there is growth.” Workshop facilitator Gopa Worldwide Consultants technical assistant team leader Adebayo Akindeinde said following the passing and assenting of the Act last year, the government is developing regulations to go with the law. He said there is a need for entrepreneurs to know the provisions of the MSME Act. “The Act will bring more formalisation in the sector. We hope more SMEs will register. Secondly it will mean that nobody will just wake up and present themselves as a consultant supporting small businesses,” said Akindeinde. National Association of Business Women representative Charity Waya said the Act will address factors that hinder growth of small and medium enterprises. “At the moment, most of us are just doing business for survival and not for profits. This workshop has motivated me to renew my business documents,” she said.
