LocationsHow the Supplier Development Programme Is Driving Local Growth and Market Access for Zambia’s Small Businesses
Growing Local Dreams
December 16, 2025
Shoprite Value Chain Supplier Mundia Numba Chief Executive Officer Nivarna Farms - Posing for a photo in her onion drying warehouse.
UNDP Zambia/Cecilia Mubambe
For many Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Zambia, breaking into big markets has always felt like a distant dream; something possible, but always just out of reach. The Passion is there. The talent is there. The ideas are there. But the pathway to scale and opportunities were not.
Today, that dream is being grounded in reality through a localized Supplier Development Programme (SDP), form the UNDP Inclusive Value Chian Programme, adapted to Zambia’s socio-economic context and aligned with national development priorities. The SDP takes a practical approach: it connects small businesses to real buyers, opening doors to jobs, innovation and new markets. The programme supports them through a structured, 10-month journey led by national consultants accredited by UNDP. The goal is simple but powerful, help MSMEs strengthen management, increase resilience, improve competitiveness and meet the standards required to access larger markets.
To facilitate implementation of the methodology, the country office under the Inclusive and Sustainable Growth Unit partnered with the Regional Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean (RBLAC), through a South-South cooperation effort, drawing on lessons from countries that have implemented the programme successfully, to conduct a pilot intervention tailored to Zambia’s context. During these exchanges, technical experts from RBLAC and other partners conducted in-person training sessions, provide technical support and engage with buyers and business associations.
During the launch of the programme UNDP Resident Representative Dr James Wakiaga highlighted that the Private Sector-led programme aimed to create demand-based and market-driven opportunities for SMEs and reflects Zambia´s broader push for economic transformation. This foundation has already started delivering tangible results across mining and agro-processing sectors.
Also speaking during the launch Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Permanent Secretary Ms Subeta Mutelo, said the role of MSMEs and Cooperatives is crucial in driving economic development across the globe and in Zambia, they are pivotal for enhancing local value chains and creating employment.
” Among the sectors targeted in this programme are the mining and agriculture sectors which are one of the prioritized sectors in our 8th National Development Plan. These sectors not only provide jobs but also contribute significantly to our exports and ensure food security. However, these sectors face unique challenges, from market fluctuations to resource availability, and so it is imperative that we equip ourselves with the right tools and knowledge to navigate these complexities,” Ms Mutelo.
Shoprite Fower Supplier Hillview Blossoms Productions Director Maria Musiska posing for a photo in one of the flower green houses.
UNDP Zambia/ Dahye Oh
Creating Pathways Where None Existed
The SDP is grounded in UNDP’s innovative Supplier Development Methodology, a hands-on, practical approach that brings small suppliers and large buyers into one shared journey. The SDP in Zambia has been rigorously localized to reflect a bigger national picture.
The programme supports Local Content utilisation and Zambia’s Economic Transformation and Job Creation agenda by fostering innovation, strengthening value chains, and helping small businesses become engines of employment. In many ways, the SDP is about unlocking the power of local enterprises, one entrepreneur at a time.
From Local Producers to Market-Ready Suppliers
The Programme’s pilot is already underway in the Mining and Agro-processing sectors. In Agro-processing, something remarkable is happening. Shoprite Zambia, the largest retail player, has partnered with the UNDP as an Anchor Company, opening its shelves to locally produced goods from small businesses who previously struggled to enter formal markets.
Ten small businesses were selected for support, each with a story of resilience. One supplier expanded from selling to 3 Shoprite stores to 16 in a matter of months. Others report fewer cancelled orders, more visibility and new pathways to grow. Through the programme, these entrepreneurs receive tailored support to improve operations, meet industry requirements and prepare for further growth, including potential access to regional markets through the African Continental Free Trade Area.
In the mining sector, the programme is opening opportunities for women and small-scale artisanal miners who have long remained invisible in value chain.
A recent milestone was the Women in Mining Forum hosted by Mopani Copper Mines PLC in Kitwe, the narrative took a transformative turn, where the Localised Supplier Development Programme (SDP) was officially launched. Five artisanal and small-scale miners supplying silica to Mopani are already making rapid progress.
They have begun critical formalization processes, obtaining mining licenses, registering for tax, securing workers’ compensation and enrolling in pension schemes. The Zimba Mining Cooperative, for example, opened its first bank account and began improving a 7-kilometre access road to ensure reliable supply routes.
Designed to support the artisanal small-scale miners from formalisation to market and women in mining, who have long been underrepresented in the sector, this initiative is a partnership between UNDP, Mopani Copper Mines and the Copperbelt University, anchored on the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development and Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development.
For UNDP, these groups are not beneficiaries, they are pioneers pushing the boundaries of what a more inclusive mining supply chain can look like.
Mopani Copper Mines Chief Executive Officer Eng. Charles Sakanya said the mine has positioned itself as a key driver of inclusivity in Zambia’s mining supply chain, working to ensure that local businesses, especially women-led enterprises, are not left behind.
“Our role is not only to mine copper but to mine opportunities, opportunities that will empower women, strengthen SMEs and contribute to the country’s long-term growth,” Eng. Sakanya emphasized.
UNDP Resident Representative James Wakiaga PhD, underscored this message, calling on the financial sector to co-create solutions that help MSMEs scale:
“These enterprises will be assessed, trained and ready to deliver. What they will need is true collaboration.”
A Silica Mining site in Copperbelt's Kalulushi Dristrict
UNDP Zambia/ Cecilia Mubambe
Why This Matters
Behind every small enterprise is a person, a family, a community. When an MSME grows, a young person gets a job, a household secures income, a community gains resilience. The SDP recognizes this chain of impact, by strengthening MSMEs, the programme will also advance Zambia’s Local Content Agenda, inclusive growth and ESG preparedness. Some participating enterprises are already gaining visibility through regional fairs and emerging export opportunities, achievements that once felt distant.
The selected suppliers are not just participants in a pilot they are pioneers showing what is possible when local enterprises are given the space, skills and support to thrive.
A Future Built on Local Strength
What began as a pilot with fifteen businesses is now planting the seeds of a new way of doing business in Zambia, one where local talent has the space to grow, compete and lead.
With data – driven diagnostics, hands – on technical support and strong partnerships across government, private sector and academia, the programme is shaping supply chains that are more inclusive and more resilient.
Step by step, supplier by supplier, Zambia is charting a future where opportunities are created locally, value is added locally and growth is shared across communities and borders.
