Zimbabwe

Scarcity entails that resources are never adequate to meet the unlimited needs of any society.This definition holds true for the country which is currently facing resource constraints in both the private and public sector. The financial services sector finds itself in the midst of trying to balance competing demands in order to cater for the whole economy. The SME sector is one of those sectors that require financing. The sector is peculiar in that it is now the engine of economic growth after the tremendous structural transformation that took place in the economy over the last decade.

Banks are venturing into the small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) sector to get a share of the $7,4 billion estimated to be circulating in the informal sector.

SMEs now constitute the bulk of the informal sector and a 2012 Finscope Survey says the SMEs had an estimated turnover of $7,4 billion circulating within that sector.

While the majority of people in Zimbabwe are grappling with severe power outages, a microfinance institution has launched a program to provide economic opportunities for women. Using solar energy initiatives, the Zimbabwe Resources Foundation has given solar kits to 100 women entrepreneurs in various communities in Manicaland. The kits include solar panels, LED lights, mobile phone battery chargers and battery packs that store the solar energy.

Zimbabwe's second largest mobile phone network provider Telecel Zimbabwe (Telecel) this week unveiled its mobile banking and electronic wallet service, Telecash, turning the heat on the already established mobile money services-Econet Wireless' Ecocash and Net One's One Wallet.

These SMEs typically account for bulk of all firms outside the agricultural sector, constitute a major source of employment and generate significant domestic and export earnings. As such, SME development emerges as a key instrument in poverty reduction efforts. The importance of SMEs in Zimbabwe is identified economic blue print guiding the economy in the next five years identified one of its key strategies as fostering strategic linkages and formalisation among SMEs and cooperatives across all sectors of the economy.