01 Aug 2024

Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) is ready  to support Chema Chema beneficiaries with advanced targeted business development interventions upon conducting its thorough diagnostic review at enterprise level, says LEA acting Chief Executive Officer, Mr Godfrey Molefe.

Briefing BOPA Wednesday on the planned training and development approaches for beneficiaries, Mr Molefe said LEA was determined to support the government’s target of ensuring that the disbursed funds benefitted potential start-ups in the immediate future.

Mr Molefe said Chema Chema Fund targeted both start-ups and progressing clients, therefore upon receiving a pool of clients awaiting funding they offered them basic awareness training in entrepreneurship, records keeping, customer service and workplace health and safety.

He said this was done in recognition that the majority of applicants had never ran a business before, and as such there were high chances of using the funds inappropriately thereby deceiving the entire purpose of the programme.

He said upon this phase and with singular emphasis on each enterprise, LEA’s planning focused on conducting an end to end diagnostic review on each enterprise to appreciate its developmental needs and interventions.

He also said this diagnostic study dwelled heavily into understanding the entire business procedures, management, employee relations, the product or service offering, the pricing, customers, and market access among other aspects.

Mr Molefe said the results will provide better acumen on how to assist each business to meet its envisaged growth, however he maintained that those with matching challenges particularly market access would be grouped and assisted in unison.

This group should support small businesses by availing market access and through their advocacy with the Ministry of Trade and Industry they hoped to support and sustain these infant industries locally.

Based on the latter, Mr Molefe said the local industry was infested with unfair practices which hinder small business growth, citing they stand ready to revoke licenses permitting giant businesses to typically sell the same products sold by small entities.

He said their existence and interference will be to ensure that there was fair practice and support for upcoming businesses within the home soil.

He said LEA’s advocacy would guarantee that certain products such as diphaphata, chicken feet and livers and horticultural produce were left for small businesses.

Mr Molefe said they noted that for horticultural produce there was a huge challenge with retail outlets as mostly they ask businesses to deliver vegetables to their stores on the basis that they shall be paid once their produce has been sold in their shops.

Mr Molefe reiterated that this to them was an unfair practice which called for their intervention as mandated by the Small Business Act of 2017, therefore he said they were working on setting a permanent and reliable market for horticultural projects.

This will ensure that small businesses get their monies upon delivery of their produce, allowing them ample time to focus on their produce in the field as opposed to struggling with retail outlets.

He said LEA would ensure that there was quality produce from all horticultural farmers enrolled with them through provision of advance interventions that look into inputs used in the production lines. ENDS