By BENEDICT TEMBO
A Livingstone-based entrepreneur says there seems to be a disconnect between banks and entrepreneurs.
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Bantu Pathfinders Tour Operators director Patson Chifumbe says without information and knowledge sharing, the perception will always be negative and unprogressive.
Dr Chifumbe commended the initiative Atlas Mara Bank took by organising a one-day business club workshop in Livingstone last Friday, which brought together 150 small and medium-sized enterprises from the tourism sector and support businesses.
“The workshop is great and helps to bridge the gap between business people and the banks as there is now more understanding and expectations are well in line from both sides,” Dr Chifumbe said.
Going forward, he said there is no other way but to go with business principles for entreprenuers to position themselves for financial opportunities that the bank provides.
He advised Atlas Mara, “I know there are many financial systems out there. Please consider sharing a model of financial management system that would work for you – your bank – though mostly these are universal. Something that SMEs can easily embrace without any challenges in terms of record keeping/book keeping and share it with them.”
Dr Chifumbe believes knowledge sharing would transform the SMEs to be more productive, resilient and gradually grow.
“My appeal is, your (Atlas Mara Bank’s) initiative should not be a one-off engagement, find a way of doing this every now and then.”
Atlas Mara Bank Head of Business Banking Robinson Daka said the workshop was part of the bank’s strategic plan as espoused through its new SME customer value proposition.
He said Easy to Transact with the Bank for SMEs was facilitated through the Atlas Mara SME App which allow SMEs to do their transactions in the comfort of their offices
Mr Daka said this was a facilitation of lending to SMEs with reduced requirements through the bank’s strategic partnerships which are ready to support the SMEs cover 70 percent of their collateral requirements.
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