Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Permanent Secretary, Subeta Mutelo, says 1.9 million jobs have been created by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.

Mrs Mutelo says the 1.9 million jobs have been created by about 1.5 million MSMEs existing in the county.

She disclosed to ZANIS in an interview today, that the Ministry intends to support cooperatives, and MSMEs in different towns to foster their growth and development through capacity building, financial illiteracy and business leakages.

She explained that the Ministry introduced an online platform on its website where individuals can register and make payments for their Cooperative instead of them travelling long distances to make an application.

She further explained that the Ministry will this year roll out the Rural Enterprises Development Programme to ensure that each province’s endowment is capitalised on such as fish caging and cassava growing by cooperatives and MSMEs, in order to industrialize the districts.

She pointed out that her Ministry ensures that stakeholders involved are consulted in order for them to add their input so that challenges in establishing industries are addressed collectively.