The European Union is committed to addressing bottlenecks impeding the development of the SME sector to its full potential in Malawi. This is among various interventions being done through supporting the government of Malawi’s efforts towards improving the entrepreneurial regulatory environment and getting the sector better organised.

Some of the activities in this venture include developing regulations that govern the sector, setting up an accreditation system for Business Development Service Providers, and developing a web-based database for MSMEs and BDS operating in the country.

The EU embarked on this initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry through the EU-funded Zantchito - Skills for Jobs programme.

A Business development service provider accreditation system will help to regulate, and sanitise the MSME sector by making sure that individuals and companies offering Business Development Services are accredited just as is the case with higher education service providers. This will ensure that SMEs have access to reliable, professional, high-quality BDS which will eventually strengthen the SME sector in the country.

The BDS database will help with the digitisation of record management for the SMEs, Policymakers, and key stakeholders in the SME sector. This will allow for timely and efficient access to important data pertaining to entrepreneurship development in Malawi. The SMEs themselves will benefit from the database by getting access to markets and various linkages.