By CHATULA KANGALI –
THE Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) has urged enterprenuers to be innovative in order for them to easily access finances for growing their businesses
Managing Director Jacob Lushinga said innovativeness had become critical in the financing of entrepreneurs in the country.
Mr Lushinga said a number of Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) were applying for finances which they fail to get due to lack of innovation.
He said there was need  for  SMEs  to come  up with innovative projects  proposals that could  contribute to the  economic development of  this  country.
“As a Bank, we do receive a lot of proposals from SMEs requesting for funding. And we do fund quite a number of them. However, a few of them get rejected at the initial stage because they lack innovativeness.
As much as we are aware of the fact that we have to support SMEs in order to create more impact, we cannot support SMEs with project proposals that are not creative and have little to contribute towards economic development,” Mr Lushinga said.
Mr Lushinga was speaking during a media cocktail at the on going Zambia International Trade Fair (ZITF) under the theme ‘Innovation for Industrialization’, in Ndola.
He said the bank was committed to reducing poverty in Zambia through funding projects that create wealth and employment for the country.
Mr Lushinga said the bank had recorded a growth of K821 million in its direct leading portfolio as of May 31 this year.
He said the direct lending portfolio grew from K521.62 million recorded in 2015 to K821 million recorded this year.
Mr Lushinga said the bank would remain committed in sourcing for cheaper credit to provide funds for SMEs.