. Musundwe

By CASSEY KAYULA –
THE Zambia Institute of Marketing (ZIM) has said 60 per cent of members practicing marketing in Zambia have no formal training in the discipline.
ZIM president Evans Muhanga said formal training was the only way to enhance the practice of marketing in the country.
Mr Muhanga said marketing was the engine for growth in any forward looking business organisation.
He said at the 4th Zambia Institute of Marketing (ZIM) graduation ceremony that marketing was a tool for wealth creation if effectively enhanced.
“As regulators of the marketing profession, it is incumbent upon us to raise the bar in terms of demanding for formal training in marketing from our members,” Mr Muhanga said.
Mr Muhanga said it was common knowledge that for any organisation to be sustainable, appropriate marketing strategies were critical.
He said the contribution of marketing to overall business and economic growth was key and hence the need for well-trained and highly skilled professional marketers to drive the process.
“Qualified marketing graduates play a vital role in enhancing enterprise development in creating a competitive nationality regionally and internationally.
“Our appeal is for Government to begin recruiting marketers in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries,” Mr Muhanga said.
Speaking at the same event, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Margret Mwanakatwe said the marketing profession played an important role in economic development.
“I believe that marketing is about creating wealth by delivering value to customers. However, this can only balance up if we have a well-trained cadre of professionals to manage the marketing process,” she said.
Ms Mwanakatwe in a speech read for her by Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry chief economist Sunday Chikoti said there was need to establish a robust skills development programme in order to develop.
“Many successful economies of the world today started by growing the small and medium entrepreneurship sector, it is for reason that my Government is paying attention to this sector so that the policy of job creation can be translated into tangible results,” Ms Mwanakatwe said.
Meanwhile, Times of Zambia Managing Director Bestone Ng’onga has congratulated Matildah Msundwe, the company’s senior graphic artist, for graduating as a marketer.
Mr Ng’onga said the new qualification would enable Ms Msundwe to excel in her profession as marketing was vital in complementing her current work and in ensuring that the company achieved competitive advantage on the market.
He pledged full support to enable Ms Msundwe realise her full potential in the company.
Ms Msundwe was one of the graduating students at the graduation ceremony.