under the sub topic of “THE PROMOTION OF MANUFACTURING SECTOR IN THE REGION”, the President of PTA Bank presented on “What you should know as a business when seeking trade financing to expand a company at a national and regional level”, SMEs look to banks to ease their financial constraints in terms of giving affordable loans to grow or expand their businesses. Manufacturing is not cheap. Added costs include the various requirements and standards a company must have , so as to access additional financing. Whilst companies let it be known that Africa is not a friendly financial environment, numerous regional and financial institutions have tailor made loaning facilities to cater for the needs of industries in the Africa. The presentation raised awareness on how and where to access such facilities.
Mr. Richard N. Muteti presented on “Practical
interventions to address efficiency in SMEs”
Associations in the region have
advocated for strong SME policy regulatory environment that can boost the
growth of the industry. As COMESA, a core running theme has been to boost SME
development through intra- trade. This presentation will addressed the
constraints faced by the industry and practical solutions that can address
trade promotion, financial accessibility, skills development and accessing
potential markets
