Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that have benefitted from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe initiated Foreign Exchange Auction System have lauded the scheme saying it has brought sanity to their business.
Speaking to 263Chat on the sidelines of a tour of Purity Trading Company (Chitungwiza) and BoardEx Zimbabwe (Msasa) by SMEs Minister Sithembiso Nyoni, beneficiaries said the auction system had made it easy for the importation of raw materials.
“Over the last 18 months we have participated at the RBZ Auction, it has really helped us to increase our capacity. In the prior year we were faced with a challenge were we would go to the parallel market to access foreign currency but as it is now we have been really fortunate to participate on that platform,” said Adolf Chirimuta, Purity managing director.
Timber board supplier and distributor company BoardEx director Obert Zhanje said the auction had minimised the burden of accessing foreign currency.
“Most of our raw materials are imported and access to the auction platform from the RBZ has helped us a lot to secure our stocks from different countries that we import from and it has also helped us to be able to service the local market. We have done projects that we have been paid in local currency and we have bought foreign currency at the auction using our currency and this has really lessened the burden on our part,” said Zhanje
Minister Nyoni said the RBZ Auction System had enabled more than 2000 SMEs to grow from being small to medium.
“We are really excited because SMEs were affected by lack of foreign currency. The opening up of the Auction system for SMES has meant 2887 SMEs grow from small to medium like we have witnessed and others from micro to small because there are others getting as much as $20000 a month and some that are getting half a million a month to capitalize their businesses.” said Minister Nyoni.
The introduction of the SMEs Foreign Exchange Auction System by the RBZ was meant to enable the sector to access foreign currency for the import of essential services and raw materials for their businesses.
