adminIshemunyoro Chingwere
Business Reporter
Chinese contractors spearheading major economic projects in Zimbabwe have turned to local and regional procurement of key materials and recruitment of critical expertise to cover the gap that has arisen due to restricted movement of goods and personnel from China following the outbreak of coronavirus.
The Chamber of Chinese Enterprises in Zimbabwe (CCEZ) — a representative body of Chinese businesspeople operating locally — told The Sunday Mail Business on Friday that it was cooperating with authorities in the fight against the virus that has to date claimed close to 3 000 people globally.
Measures put in place to prevent the spread of the deadly virus to Zimbabwe include avoiding the continued importation of machinery and consumables from China that can otherwise be procured locally or regionally.
The import substitution measures have also been extended to technical skills where the Chinese are now relying on Zimbabwe’s vast human resource base.
In circumstances where technical expertise has to come from China, the 75-member chamber said expatriates have to undergo a mandatory two- week quarantine period in China and a further three weeks in Zimbabwe before they can start work.
Crucially, the chamber said there were, however, no people coming into the country from Hubei province — the epicentre of the coronavirus.
“There are big projects like the airport (RG Mugabe) and Hwange, which need a lot of people, technicians and engineers, coming from China and also they need to bring in some machinery from China but this is being delayed,” said CCEZ chairman Mr Ye Hai through a translator.
“So what we are doing now is, on the staff side, we have told our members to employ local staff because Zimbabwe also has engineers and technicians that can do some of the jobs.
“We are also trying to cover by purchasing some of the equipment and machinery locally or importing from neighbouring countries so that we don’t delay these projects very much because they have deadlines to meet,” said Mr Ye.
The chamber has also banned unnecessary gatherings amongst its membership as well as partying.
Member companies are also adhering to strict precautionary measures such as fever checking all people entering or leaving member premises as well as employees being made to put on face masks when at work.
China is currently one of the largest foreign direct investors in Zimbabwe and major Asian firms are undertaking mega projects in the country.
Among some of the big Chinese- driven projects is the US$1,5 billion Hwange Thermal Power Station expansion project, the US$153 million Robert Mugabe International Airport expansion and the US$100 million new Parliament Building at Mt Hampden in Harare.
The Chinese also have vast interests in mining — particularly chrome — agriculture with a bias in tobacco farming among other key economic sectors that entail movement of people and materials from the Asian giant.
Agriculture
With the tobacco marketing season beckoning, fears are that Chinese buyers will not have the dominance they have had over the last few years.
Most of Zimbabwe’s tobacco has found its way to China with buyers from the Asian giant snapping up about half of the country’s overall produce annually.
“So far in agriculture, tobacco in particular, there is not much negative impact,” said Mr Ye. “Even if you check on the farms and everywhere everything is very normal.
“As you know, China is purchasing almost half of Zimbabwe’s tobacco every year, that is about US$500 million, so normally we have delegations coming to Zimbabwe to take samples and do the purchasing.
“But this year, if they can’t come still we have enough manpower already in Zimbabwe to purchase tobacco in Zimbabwe. We won’t stop,” he said.
Tourism
Several countries have closed off their borders with China, airlines have slashed flights, and hotels have seen a big drop in bookings following the outbreak of the corona virus. The disease, now officially labelled COVID-19, has spread across the globe, infecting tens of thousands of people and killing more than 3 000.
Online Reporter