Cash management vital

CASH management is one of the key issues affecting many micro, small to medium enterprises (MSME), says an official.
Professor Binta Abubakar, the facilitator of the Moresby North-East MSME and SME programme from the Oshoma Business Institute in Port Moresby, said many of the 22,000 women involved in the training were adults.
“They have no formal education,” she said.
“That is why you find many settlements in Moresby North-East.
“That is why the business is in cash economy.
“Cash economy alone in the SME area is K20 million a day.”
“The women sell vegetables, run a poultry businesses or a trade store.
“They are the vendors on the roadsides, they are the one who weave bilum in the homes.
“We have to educate them to move from the informal to the formal sector.
“We teach them things like cash flow, budget, how to manage a small business, the meaning of SME/MSME.
“We educate them on the Government policy on SME, how to manage a loan, how to make a business plan.” Prof Abubakar said growing a business took time.
“We look forward to next year where some of the women would achieve their (targets),” she said.
“They completed the financial literacy programme. The next step is for us to give them the money required to grow their businesses.
“So we are going to spend a lot of time on established businesses because we want to see them grow.”