Minister ramps up efforts on job creation agenda

Minister of Labour Ken Kandodo says the ministry has developed a job creation strategy by involving small and medium enterprises (SMEs)towards creating one million jobs within a year.

The minister said this on Friday in Blantyre at the close of a week-long meeting that included members of the horticulture, construction and beverage sectors to assess the possibility of creating more jobs.

Kandodo said he was impressed with the meeting as it provided a platform to discuss obstacles to job creation in the country.

He said: “Major issues we have noted from the meeting are that many SMEs fail to grow and employ more people because they lack enough capital and they are affected by smuggling and high taxes.

“We will see how best we can deal with the issues.”

On his part, Chamber for SMEs executive secretary James Chiutsi said they are impressed that government has recognised their potential to create jobs.

He said: “We were unable to express our issues before, but the meeting has enabled us to express our views in an open manner.

“The minister has assured us that our problems will be addressed accordingly so that we begin to grow our enterprises.”

Chiutsi said SMEs are ready to employ over 1 000 000 people as the country has over 1 000 000 registered SMEs.

The minister and his officials have been meeting representatives from various sectors in an effort to create one million jobs within one year.

In 2019, SMEs contributed at least 45 percent to the country’s gross domestic product, according to the Finscope Malawi 2019 SMEs Survey.