Business urged to be mindful of consumers’ plight

Farirai Machivenyika, Harare Bureau
President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday said the business community should be mindful of the economic environment and plight of consumers when coming up with their pricing and marketing models.

The President said this while commissioning an $8 million dairy processing plant owned by ProDairy, a subsidiary of the Innscor Africa Group.

“As we revive, rebuild and grow our economy it is critical to be conscious of our pricing and marketing models,” President Mnangagwa said.

“Let us always be mindful of the broader economic environment and the plight of consumers across the social strata. Following my Monday dialogue with representatives of the business sector, I am encouraged by the positive reflections, thereafter, which have seen some suppliers begining to reduce prices.”

He added that some companies had abused the protection they got from Government when it introduced Statutory Instrument 64.

“Some two or so years ago we introduced the SI 64, I was behind that one because we wanted to encourage and capacitate domestic manufacturing and to that extent I think we succeeded. I was only disappointed two weeks ago when some of the manufacturers whom we intended to protect were now hoarding and not releasing products to consumers.

“This is why I have now amended SI 122 to allow temporarily the inflow of some of the basic commodities, which are coming into the country,” the President said.

“So I am saying to manufacturers that if there is need to look at the cost drivers on your products this should be done properly, we discuss and we dialogue with the markets and everybody, we move together and no ambushes (because) the war ended in 1980 and that is when there were ambushes.

We have no more ambushes now we should move together, the private and the public sector. We should work together, the goal is the same, to develop our country, to modernise our economy, to have a better life not for anybody but for ourselves. So let us continue to dialogue. As Government we will look at your needs and we also look at challenges the Government is facing but together we can always succeed.”

Prices of basic commodities shot up three weeks ago mainly due to speculative behaviour but the situation is normalising following Government’s intervention. President Mnangagwa called on the private and public sectors to contribute towards Government’s vision of attaining a middle income economy by 2030.

He urged the company to continuously work to unlock value in the dairy sector in the country.

“To this end, you must play your part in growing the sector through the creation of strategic partnerships, which facilitate appropriate research and development as well as specialised irrigation pastures and cattle breeds.

“Such value chain linkages will in turn guarantee continued supply of raw materials to the sector and eradicate poverty among our rural and small scale farming communities,” he said.