Vendors in Bulawayo have urged insurance companies to come up with insurance schemes that also cater for SMEs.
Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA) executive director Michael Ndiweni told Southern Eye that their members often lose everything in the event of a fire outbreak because their goods are not insured. Said Ndiweni:
Insurance is very important for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in the event of accidents like what happened in Espamprekini in Mpopoma where people lost everything (to a fire outbreak) because their goods were not insured.
We are doing advocacy for SMEs to be granted insurance packages. We have also raised this issue to the government during budget consultations for 2023.
We also engaged the government on policy because it should come from government policy for it to be responsive to the traders.
Ndiweni said property owners should be compelled to insure their goods so that their tenants do the same.