Indian-Africa incubation centre almost ready
THE Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development has urged small business to apply to be admitted into the Indian-Africa incubation centre as the facility was almost ready.
The ministry is setting up the India-Africa Incubation Centre in Waterfalls in Harare with assistance from the National Small Industries Corporation, India.
The incubation facility is a business support centre that will accelerate the successful development of start-ups and fledging Micro to Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) by providing entrepreneurs with an array of targeted resources and services.
In an interview on the sidelines of a SMEs meeting held in Mawabeni last week, Small to Medium Enterprises and Co-operative Development Minister Sithembiso Nyoni (pictured far right) said the incubation was ready and what was left was for the ministry to connect power and running water.
“Everything at the incubator is ready and what is left is to connect electricity and running water. That is what is left now and after that our Indian funders will come and connect the machines that are there,” said Minister Nyoni.
Minister Nyoni urged all SMEs that are interested in being part of the incubation centre to start applying for the space.
“We are already taking in applications so that we can assess them. This is so that as soon as the incubation is ready we immediately start working. We are currently advertising for applications and we urge people to take this opportunity,” Minister Nyoni said.
e incubation center will provide management guidance, mentoring, technical assistance, equipment and consulting tailored to start-ups and existing MSMEs for varying periods ranging from three to 18 months.
Some of the programmes that would be available at the incubation are in honey processing, drinking water filtration and bottling, soya milk extraction and packaging, biscuit manufacturing and packaging, bread manufacturing and packaging, toilet roll manufacturing among over 20 programmes.