The National Business Council of Zimbabwe is lobbying for different customs duty thresholds for small cross border traders to reduce the cost of getting their good into the country.

Speaking at a symposium yesterday, NBCZ vice president Zvikomborero Sibanda said small traders were disadvantaged as they are charged duty at the same rate as the big retailers.

"Small traders face stiff competition from large retailers who enjoy economies of scale but when they get to the border, duty is calculated at the same rate. This means the small trader pays duty at the same rate for her few goods as the retailer who has a truckload.

"We want to approach Zimra to offer small traders a break so that they can also realise a better profit from their business," she said. 

She also said women constitute the bulk of SME operators so there was need to widen the scope for corporate and other investors to include women in their financing portfolios. Sibanda said NBCZ would launch the Zimbabwe Women's Investment Fund which would harness resources that would be used to finance small traders in need of funding.

"We also want those women who have become successful to contribute to the fund and help upcoming business women. You find that sometimes the traders only want as much as $20 or $100. They do not have to go to the bank for that money but they should be able to get it from the fund," she said. 

She added that NBCZ would also try to get women in the Diaspora to contribute a minimum of $10 a month which would go into the fund.

This money would be used as seed finance for the women back home andthem should they decide to come back home. She said many people in the Diaspora wanted to come back home but they did not have anything to come back to. 

"This fund will also give them something to do when they finally decide to come back to Zimbabwe," she said.

At least $7,4 billion is suspected to be circulating in the informal sector which employs 5,7 million people.

Tags: Zimra, Tax,