adminNgoni Dapira
BUY Zimbabwe has applauded the pronouncements by President Mugabe in his State of the Nation Address last week Tuesday, particularly on reinforcing the country’s procurement laws. Buy Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Mr Munyaradzi Hwengwere, said President Mugabe’s pragmatism and acknowledgement of the intrinsic state of affairs in the country’s economy was a good starting point for progression.
“I think the beauty of what was presented by the President is that there is now recognition at every level of Government that we must promptly deal with the economic situation and focus thoughtfully on job creation.
“As Buy Zimbabwe, we say the only way to create jobs is to buy locally and promote local procurement of which the President touched on procurement and we hope to see changes that will promote the Buy Zimbabwe campaign,” said Mr Hwengwere.
President Mugabe said the State Procurement Board would be transformed into a new non-executive procurement authority tasked with setting standards and guidelines as monitoring compliance by procurement entities.
The board would also act as advisor to the Government on public procurement policy.
Mr Hwengwere said Buy Zimbabwe had already – with its stakeholders – started a consumer engagement campaign to create demand for locally manufactured goods.
He said the country’s import syndrome and the soaring appetite for foreign goods by consumers had resulted in the loss of more than $18 billion over the last five years through cumulative current account deficits.
Mr Hwengwere said this alone underscored the importance of buying local.
“Buy Zimbabwe’s engagement with industry and commerce has been progressing well but this campaign will open up to consumers.
“The average local consumer is not quite aware of the impact that a simple purchasing decision can have on job creation and ultimately economic growth.
“Buy Zimbabwe observed that purchasing patterns of consumers were influenced by perception. Many perceive foreign products to be of better quality and better value, which is not necessarily true. Then there is also the pricing element,” said Mr Hwengwere.
Mr Hwengwere added that many consumers indicated that while they might have strong aspirations to support local products they were propelled by limited income for cheaper foreign imports.
During the 2015 Confederation of Zimbabwe industry congress industry complained about the intentional sabotage by some local retailers and wholesaler towards local products despite competitive pricing.
They cited that in the retail sector, some outlets openly showed preference of imported goods through shelving and strategically placing local goods in a small corner.
However, Mr Hwengwere said for the Buy Zimbabwe campaign to be successful, it was important for industry and commerce as well as consumers to look at the long-term benefits to the economy.
“Industry need to cut prices to competitive rates and work on volumes while consumers on the other hand need to bear in mind the repel effects of buying a local product which in essence keeps one company open thereby creating employment,” said Mr Hwengwere.
According to official statistics the overall imports growth is projected to be about 6 percent in 2015.
Imports for the duration from January to June 2015 stood at $3.1 billion compared to $3 billion recorded in the same period in 2014.
Exports for this same period amounted to $1.23 billion, compared to $1.22 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2014.
Online Reporter