The Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) has encouraged women led businesses in the country to fully take advantage of the market access opportunities available to them under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). ZABS Standards Development and Training Manager Belinda S. Kancheya has said the Bureau has availed itself to help mentor SMEs to prepare them for high value markets such as the AfCFTA. She said one of the ways that women led businesses can be assisted to achieve market success is through increasing their uptake and use of standards and conformity assessment services such as testing and certification. She said this on the sidelines of the Women in Industry Conference that was hosted by the Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) at the Radisson Blue Hotel in Lusaka.

“One of the reasons why we are participating in this conference is to promote the uptake and use of standards and quality assurance services by the SME sector particularly women led businesses. There are benefits that can be derived from standardization such as enhanced performance and competitiveness, overcoming trade obstacles which eventually lead to market linkages. As ZABS in this regard, we are eager to help improve SME participation in trade related activities.”

Mrs. Kancheya further revealed that there was need for more women to participate in standards development as the percentage of women in standards development stood at 10%. She further stated that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was signed between ZAM and ZABS has played a key role in bridging the access to information gap on how businesses can fully benefit   from Standardization.

The Zambia Bureau of Standards and the Zambia Association of Manufacturers signed a Memorandum of Understanding in November 2020 whose aim is to help strengthen the application of standards in industry, promote greater private sector input and content into regional and international standards through greater Zambian participation in the standards development process. The Women in Industry conference is one Initiative implemented by ZAM that creates a platform for ZABS to realize some of the objectives of the MoU.