More than 80 000 micro enterprises have benefited from policy and legislative interventions under the Business Enabling Environment Programme (BEEP) aimed at reducing the cost of doing business in Zimbabwe, 263Chat can reveal.
By Faith Zvorufura and Jeoffrey Ncube
Addressing stakeholders at the Business Enabling Environment Programme (BEEP) closeout seminar held in the capital on Wednesday, IMC Worldwide representative Lucy Nickoll said 45% of micro enterprises have benefited from the various efforts of the BEEP programme in addressing the cost of doing business.
“It is a real pleasure to be here to celebrate the end of the successful BEEP programme.
“That success has been driven by the skill and expertise of the BEEP core team but also by the collaboration with BEEPs core partners, most of whom are here today.
“So, I would like to start by saying the obvious, by saying a very well-deserved congratulations to you all, on your collaboration that has reaped benefits for many micro and small enterprises within Zimbabwe.
“I want to share with you the summary conclusions from a recent impact assessment of BEEP which suggested that 45% of micro enterprises have benefited from the various efforts of the BEEP programme in addressing the cost of doing business.
“Among the respondents of the survey, there was an estimated £156 / $220 reduction in the cost of doing business annually.
“Of the BMOs surveyed, 75% stated that they were realizing the reduction in the cost of doing business as a result of adopted measures.
“Importantly it is likely that this impact is only set to grow in the future as more organisations come to benefit from the changes, ”she said.
She added that IMC Worldwide takes pride in having supported the BEEP team and is extremely impressed with their achievements in Zimbabwe.
“IMC has been proud to support the BEEP team through the ‘bridging phase’ of the programme during 2017, and we have been impressed by their achievements.
“Their work has culminated in policy reforms that will sustain and improve economic growth within Zimbabwe”, said Nickoll.
When the BEEP programme started, it was meant to improve the business environment in the country to attract investment, improve private sector-led economic growth, create jobs and alleviate poverty.
BEEP also worked with the media on issues of visibility while promoting dialogue on policy issues targeted by the programme.
According to IMC Worldwide, the programme succeeded in strengthening linkages between researchers and governments and business associations, which led to the development of research that informed and influenced policy formulation.
Moreover, BEEP helped transform dialogues into platforms to voice businesses’ needs to the government, for example, the programme’s collaboration with the National Economic Consultative Forum was key to consolidating all dialogue resolutions into a policy brief that was presented to the Ministry of Finance during the Zimbabwe Economic Symposium in November 2017.
