PEPZ and Toyota Zambia join forces
Partnerships are the lifeblood of corporate supply chains in today’s scale-driven, technology-intensive economy, says Toyota Zambia Managing Director Dino Bianchi.
Mr Bianchi made the remarks during the signing of a co-operation agreement between the automotive distributor and the Private Enterprise Programme Zambia (PEPZ) which sees the two organisations working together on local supplier development to increase the number of competitive Zambian enterprises supplying Toyota Zambia’s main operations in Zambia.
“We respect business partners such as suppliers and dealers and work with them through long-term relationships to realise mutual growth based on mutual trust. We are therefore pleased to collaborate with PEPZ to facilitate and support the development of qualifying Zambian suppliers to the level where they will be eligible and suitable for contracting by Toyota Zambia,” said Mr Bianchi.
According to the agreement, PEPZ will identify and screen Zambian enterprises for the initiative. It will further conduct assessments on screened suppliers and provide recommendations on areas of capacity building support needs for each supplier.
Speaking at the event, PEPZ Team Leader, Bayo Akindeinde said: “PEPZ strongly believes there is a commercial case for large companies such as Toyota Zambia to purchase more locally to shorten extended, import-dependent supply chains, purchase locally and to reduce costs in products where Zambia is competitive.”
“We are excited to partner with Toyota Zambia to increase local SMEs’ participation in the company’s supply chain. The ripple effects of such an undertaking are enormous and we look forward to seeing SMEs thrive as a consequence,” he added.
In Zambia, the private sector mainly consists of micro, small and medium enterprises that generate a large share of employment and income opportunities. Often, however, their development potential remains untapped, as firms operate in isolation, are locked into uncompetitive production patterns and unable to approach dynamic business partners that could bring in new expertise and know how.
PEPZ aims to boost the development of a competitive private sector and contribute to poverty reduction by building sustainable linkages between small-size enterprises, their larger scale business partners and support institutions through their Business Linkages Programme (BLP).