East Africa: COMESA Rolls Out U.S.$100,000 Cluster Programmes
By Nchimunya Muganya, 25 July 2012, in Times of Zambia
COMESA SME Toolkit national coordinator Edwin Zulu disclosed this in
Lusaka yesterday during an induction meeting of the Global
Entrepreneurship Week Board.
Mr Zulu said the cluster would be created in three different sectors
of the economy namely, leather and footwear, cotton and textiles, and
the cassava industry.
He said the cluster facility for the leather and footwear and cotton
and textiles would be located in Lusaka's Chinika area and that of
cassava in Luapula Province.
Mr Zulu noted that the main aim of creating clusters was to ensure
that SMEs development was embraced through the usage of proper equipment
and latest technology, thereby building capacity in value addition.
He said the clusters would help SMEs share ideas on how best they can
contribute to national development through job creation and
infrastructure development as well as establish commercially competitive
markets.
"Our division with the full support from COMESA has embarked on a cluster creation programme in the country.
"We will create cluster facilities for our SMEs as it is one way of
providing support to them and also to complement Government's efforts in
development," he said.
Mr Zulu said the formation of clusters would be completed by the end
of the year, adding that it would go a long way in providing support
through equipment and infrastructure.
"We hope to finish the formation of these clusters by the end of this
year, as you know it is very easy to support a group than individuals
and the clusters will allow a number of SMEs to have easy access to
using state-of-the-art equipment which they cannot manage to acquire on
their own.
