The government has underscored the essence of access to finance as a pinnacle for businesses growth and development.
Minister of Trade and industry Sosten Gwengwe said this during the launch of a grants programme under Southern Africa Trade and Connectivity Project (SATCP) in Lilongwe.
He said provision of tangible financial support particularly to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would unlock the country’s economy.
Gwengwe said the grants would empower SMEs to produce value added products that would be competitive at regional markets.
“We need to address the bottlenecks facing the value-adding process and provide alternatives that are long lasting,” Gwengwe said.
He pointed out that private sector involvement in the implementation of SATCP remains key and needs to play a vital role in helping in financing.
The minister viewed that the key to the success of the loans would depend on the SMEs that would be reached out and said there was a need to reach out to new ones so that they should benefit too.
He urged participating councils to make use of the grants in order to consolidate the issue of promoting value chains.
Gwengwe thanked the World Bank for granting Malawi a 50 percent grant from the $150 million loans to be implemented in the SATCP.
World Bank Senior Private Sector Specialist Efrem Chilima said the World Bank was keen to ensure that value addition and commercialisation in the agriculture sector was promoted.
He said there are a number of projects the bank was implementing in the country in order to commercialise the agriculture sector in order to achieve economic growth.
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