… Repayable at 0.5% interest over 12 months
BYPHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE- Doom and gloom hovering over ‘bend and pick’ vendors whose goods were burnt in a Manzini is about to end.
This follows the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade’s intervention to ‘bend and pick’ businesses affected by fire in Manzini storage facility.
Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo yesterday announced that government is offering soft loans to ‘bend and pick’ vendors.
The minister said the ministry met with the executive of the ‘bend and pick’ committee to discuss ways in which their businesses can restart after the unfortunate incident of the fire that destroyed their wares in Manzini storage facility.
“Various options were explored and the immediate intervention agreed was to provide businesses loans of up to E5 000 under the Informal Traders Revolving Fund administered by FINCORP on behalf of government. The business loan will be repayable over a 12-month period at an interesting rate of 0.5 per cent.
“Therefore, the ministry makes an undertaking to facilitate the processing of the business loans and further assures the affected businesses that the issue will be and is being treated as a matter of urgency,” said the minister.
Khumalo further said worth noting was that, already, a list of affected businesses had been submitted to the ministry and discussions on the processing of the loans had already commenced with the administrator of the fund.
“As a ministry, we will continue to ensure that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are nurtured through a conducive trading environment and the provision of financial and technical assistance as the need arises,” said Khumalo.
