BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE -The Centre for Financial Inclusion (CFI) a semi-autonomous wing of the Ministry of Finance is in preparation for the blended MSME FinScope Survey.
This was confirmed by a Communique sent to this publication, where it was said that Centre for Financial Inclusion, ESEPARC have begun preparations for The survey targets micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) to determine their access and use of financial products offered in the Eswatini economy.
“ The knowledge to be generated will improve the financial inclusion policy landscape and encourage financial service providers to more financial products that are suited for small businesses,” read the statement.
With the delegated mandate through Legal Notice 189 of 2015 to coordinate and monitor the implementation of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) for the Kingdom of Eswatini (2017 – 2022).
The core objective of the NFIS is to facilitate access and usage to affordable and quality financial services and products, particularly for the low-income segments of the population and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
The study seeks to give insights into the MSME sector identifying the businesses by sector, their life stage, barriers, underpinning policies and strategies for business development and obstacles to growth be they financial or non-financial, and underlying factors spanning from demographics to macroeconomic level factors.
A key output is to identify ‘high impact’ businesses within the MSME sector. These businesses are those that are most likely to offer increased levels of employment, transform the Eswatini economy towards industrialization, and are in sectors with national priority or strategic importance.
