The undertaking is part of the strategic initiatives to announce the newly-formed MUNJANI group’s arrival and existence, to introduce and establish a relationship with the SMME sector continent-wide.

MUNJANI will unveil more ground-breaking projects as it gears to set up intra-Africa trade and economic uplift-ment.

“The development of the SMME sector is one of the key areas where MUNJANI has interest,” remarked Managing Director, Eng. Martin Manuhwa.

“The overall strategy is to create a huge SMME business and network alliance using the MUNJANI platform, and through this create service linkages throughout the continent and exposure of products to global markets.”

He added: “SMMEs will join free of charge. There is an application form on our website. They either join as MUNJANI anchor companies, or associate companies on a project by project basis. The other option is to register with us to be on the MUNJANI database as a service provider and thus be part of our vast continental network.”

Manuhwa said it was well noted how Covid-19 had wreaked havoc upon the SMME industry. This was more the reason MUNJANI focussed on this sector to help as part of the recovery and revitalisation solution underpinning AfCFTA’s SMME advancement programmes. This is also fundamental to AfCFTA’s success.

Observers have highlighted the fundamental role SMMEs can play on the transformation of African economies. SMMEs create about 80 percent of employment in sub-Saharan Africa, thus underscoring the need to identify, elevate and build the capacities-skills, finance, technology etc of African SMMEs as that would be an important part of making a difference in boosting intra-Africa trade.

This is especially true at a time when about 10 to 12 million graduates enter the job market every year in Africa. Unlike the SMMEs, big companies and transnational corporations operating in Africa already have the financial muscle, technology, skills and the connections to do business in Africa.

The MUNJANI group has created the operational infrastructure to get the SMMEs come together under its banner, capacitate and link these with capital raising efforts. The overriding factor is promoting intra-African business among the SMME and expose their products to global markets through the MUNJANI African diaspora networks and other channels.

MUNJANI will thus embark on continuous programmes of enhancement and advancement of participation of all relevant stakeholders at the national, regional and continental levels. The role of technology and the overall digital economy, including e-commerce, with its potential benefits and challenges cannot be underplayed in this regard.

“This is quite significant as others have observed too,” noted Manuhwa, “that AfCFTA can play a role of unlocking innovation, growth and productivity across the continent, but also significantly catapult the SMME segment spending power into economic development. MUNJANI is jumping on this bandwagon.”

He added: “Digital skills, we all know that by now as others have noted before, are essential for any organisation to grow and we want to encourage technology adoption and skills development in every SMME.”

There has recently been a flurry of activity in the African tech start-ups ecosystem. The Africa Report noted that young Africans start-ups having been making headway in these cutting-edge sectors, thus catching the eye of leading organisations, including the World Economic Forum.

MUNANI is therefore calling on SMMEs to come on board. Join us as we embark on this economic alchemy.

SMME: WOMEN AND YOUTH

Manuhwa emphasised the participation of women and youth in SMMEs, saying the small and medium-sized enterprise (SMME) segment is one of our anchor activities.

He said: “Simply click JOIN MUNJANI on the website and fill in the application form. Your SMME association with MUNJANI will either be through a Joint Venture or as a service provider on the MUNJANI database, making your enterprise part of the MUNJANI networks. It is all free of charge”.

Women and youth empowerment will in the main be spearheaded through the MUNJANI SMME, WOMEN AND YOUTH DESK, as well as through grass-root community activities initiated and facilitated through the MUNJANI FOUNDATION and the MUNJANI diaspora networks. You win whichever way.

Manuhwa added: “As MUNJANI, we choose this path well informed by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA’s) Secretariat’s position seeking to achieve gender equality and enhancing the export capacity as pursued by women, youth entrepreneurs and business owners to ensure that these groups derive maximum benefit from the AfCFTA.”

AfCFTA is on the one hand, a significant milestone on the journey to African integration and development, notes the Secretariat’s “FUTURES REPORT – MAKING THE AfCFTA WORK FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH”, produced in anticipation of trading under AfCFTA terms in 2021. On the other hand it is a catalyst for new ways of doing business, producing, working and trading within Africa and with the rest of the world.

The report notes and demonstrates that beyond the numbers and negotiations, the realization of this promise will depend on decisive actions and the collective efforts of the African people. Concrete policy measures and investments are needed in particular to ensure that women and youth, who account for the majority of the population, business owners and workforce, can be better integrated into the value chains, jobs and opportunities stemming from the AfCFTA.

MUNJANI, in its support for the AfCFTA initiatives, has for its part laid out its own plan of activities, projects and programmes around the SMME segment – particularly with the view of empowering and advancing women and the youth.

The MUNJANI GROUP itself was established to broadly support the operationalization of the Africa We Want initiative by both the African Union and the (AfCFTA) to create a momentum for economic development and intra-African trade – and also to global markets.

Our partnerships strategy entails working with all relevant players both from the private and public sector, collaborating with carefully selected companies, businesses, governments, international development agencies and society in general, added Manuhwa.

He concluded: “MUNJANI therefore views itself as a unique driver by virtue of the proposed composition that shares the characteristics of the envisaged large-scale mass events and economic interventions. There is furthermore an added brand exploitation qualities and content showcase that is unprecedented and has been developed with values that encapsulates the vision of premier brands and initiatives like the new partnership for Africa development (Nepad), the AU, AfCFTA and such other institutions.

“We have recognised the market opportunities that lie within the people of African descent within the continent.

All of the ambition is attainable with the right partnerships such as governments (enablers) and big companies (funders and sponsors) who are pertinent partners of such undertakings. In summation, MUNJANI is positioned to realise a grand collaboration that combines business, government and social investment in its make-up.”