Bulawayo working on state of the economy report

Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
BULAWAYO Province is working on a state of the economy report which will spell out the city’s 2022 economic performance and projections for the coming year.

The report which is expected to be released by the end of this month will also detail the investment opportunities in Bulawayo and solutions to some of the provincial challenges, among other information.

In an interview, Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Permanent Secretary Mr Paul Nyoni said the report will provide a detailed breakdown of the state of the economy in Bulawayo.

He said an inclusive approach was adopted in gathering data and Government as well as private sector players contributed to the drafting of the report.

“As part of our work, remember one of our key roles is to coordinate participation at the lowest levels.

In order to do that we must be able to measure what you are coordinating and in this case, the provincial economy. As part of those measurements we are working on the state of the economy in the context of the 2022 budget and in the context of National Development Strategy 1 what has been planned and what has been achieved,” he said.

“That is the kind of information that is going to inform our future in terms of plans and also inform the budgetary system as we go forward.”

He said various subsectors of the economy contributed to the drafting of the report.

Mr Nyoni said each economic sector presented opportunities and solutions to challenges affecting economic growth.

“Those committees are in charge of various parts of the economy, we have for instance, the thematic committee on infrastructure will then meet with us. We have already had these meetings and we are going through report analysis and report writing. We have done each and every thematic committee to say what have been the problems and how can we resolve them,” said Mr Nyoni.

“It’s an ongoing process and this is the kind of report which you will ordinarily want done by the end of November but it has to go through various stages. Remember the whole process of devolution requires participation, so there is a lot of consultations, agreements and disagreements. But we are planning to have something done by the end of November.”

He said Bulawayo has vast opportunities for economic growth and can leverage on existing infrastructure and human capital development.

Mr Nyoni said some of the unoccupied industry space presents the city with investment opportunities that cannot be obtained in other cities.

“You will be amazed at the number of factory commercial space that is available in the city because of our history in that. A lot of businesses that have come up actually occupied buildings that have existed and that is a big advantage. It’s unlike in other areas where you have to put up new buildings,” said Mr Nyoni.

“Bulawayo is at a point where it is a much better place than a greenfield investment area. It has the basic infrastructure there and what you need is to take advantage of it. We also have a workforce that is already used to working in this kind of environment.”

He said Government’s investments in water and electricity infrastructure will address some of the concerns raised by investors.

“Of course we acknowledge that there are issues to do with energy and water which have affected the city over the years. But as you know the Gwayi Shangani is meant to be a long-term solution to the water situation and we know there is a lot of work that is going into Hwange Unit 7 and 8 and other future energy works,” he said.

“We are looking for a 2023 where all these issues are resolved and we start talking of investment without having this energy and water in front of us. Let it get out of the way so that we can focus on real things.”

Government is constructing Lake Gwayi Shangani which is expected to be completed in June next year.
Its completion will provide a permanent solution to Bulawayo perennial water challenges which are of concern to investors.

Rehabilitation of Hwange Unit 7 and 8 power stations is ongoing and commissioning of the former is expected later this month.

Mr Nyoni said the report will also direct Government on areas of budget priorisation in the city.

He said investors can also use the upcoming report to identify lucrative investment sectors.

“Any investor will need that kind of analysis because analysis is about problems, how they are addressed and how they are resolved. So if you are coming in to invest, you will definitely want a situation where you know how the province is dealing with various problems. How we perform informs an investor how the economy is doing,” he said. — @nqotshili