Buy Zim conference a success

Zimbabwe needs to move away from being an import market by unlocking the country’s full potential through aggressive promotion of the production and consumption of local goods and services.
Buy Zimbabwe scored a double during the conference after Government’s endorsement of the initiative during the launch of the Industrial Development and Trade Policy late last month. 
Delegates further recognised the initiative’s role as a competitive and empowerment driver that is at the centre of Zimbabwe’s economic development.
Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines president Mr Winston Chitando expressed the association’s commitment to support the Buy Zimbabwe initiative, which he said, is critical in enhancing the competitiveness of the local industry.
This naturally means that our work is cut out for us. Action, action, action is what Zimbabwe is calling for. Therefore, there is need to ensure that what was discussed at the conference is put into practice.
The hot topic was the urgent need to reduce the country’s unnecessarily high unsustainable import bill at approximately US$5 billion against exports of about US$3,6 billion.
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and Sadc Chambers of Commerce and Industry president Mr Oswell Binha said there was an urgent need for increased capacity utilisation and the reversal of the unsustainable inflow of imports.
Delegates noted that for the Buy Zimbabwe campaign to succeed it starts with consumers and the attitude they have about local products and in some instances local policies.
National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board chairperson Mr David Chapfika said that Zimbabwe should place strong emphasis on its local procurement policy and to have more faith and trust in homegrown policies.
One of the key resolutions from the conference was that Government, as the single largest consumer, must lead in buying local products to support this policy.
Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries chief executive Engineer Dawson Mareya said there is need to develop a Zimbabwean motor industry development policy to provide a roadmap for the resuscitation of the sector.
However, there was a general appreciation that local companies are still in distress due to the liquidity crunch in the economy.
This has largely affected operations in companies, some of which are determined to produce for the nation.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Dr Joseph Kanyekanye suggested that the country should build its international relationships in order to unlock finance in the form of budgetary support and lines of credit.
He also suggested that local banks should be innovative and take advantage of the relationship between Zimbabwe and China to create business synergies.
The obvious effect of the country’s poor infrastructure, which was discussed by Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Dr Joseph Made needs immediate attention.
The net effect that infrastructure has on the manufacturing and the agriculture value chain amongst others is astronomical.
Statistics shared by the minister indicate that 700 000 hectares of maize has been written off this season alone due to incessant power               cuts, while our local millers have to import maize from neighbouring Zambia and South Africa.
Now, all this is happening at a time when we are trying to reduce our import bill.
It was also noted that a solution to the escalating power cuts has to be found to help unlock Zimbabwe’s production potential.
A representative of Solar Energy Society of Zimbabwe suggested the use of alternative energy, in particular solar energy, to reduce pressure on the national grid.
I believe this is a great idea, which Government should take up. However, Government’s efforts to ensure that solar energy becomes an alternative source of energy continue to be hindered by high import costs.
Still on the energy gridlock, the leasing of small thermal power stations featured prominently in the energy and power cluster.
What I seemed to be getting was that a strong business-Government partnership was critical in reviving these.
Government on previous occasions has made the call but the uptake by business still remains somewhat negligible.
Minister of Mines and Mining Development Dr Obert Mpofu emphasised the need to support the productive sectors of the economy in stimulating production and expressed his ministry’s commitment to ensuring value addition of minerals.
All in all to us the conference was a huge success. The Buy Zimbabwe team shall be circulating a comprehensive report on the conference resolutions and recommendations to all key stakeholders, which shall be submitted to Government for implementation.

l Robert Garai Muganda is the Media and Communications Executive for Buy Zimbabwe. He can be contacted on email: [email protected] mobile: 0772 714 233;  Facebook/Twitter: buy zimbabwe campaign