adminIn an interview, Bulawayo Indigenous Business Association vice president Mr Fred Ndoro said initiatives such as the $40 million Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf) were not sustainable.
He said the Government should note that when the concept to bail out distressed industries was mooted, an inter-ministerial taskforce was formed.
The taskforce, Mr Ndoro said, embarked on a campaign called Let Bulawayo Survive that was aimed at mobilising funds to restore the city as the country’s industrial hub as a matter of urgency.
“As business we feel that we have been used because the inter-ministerial committee on Let Bulawayo Survive last year embarked on an exercise to investigate the concerns affecting local industries and the assumption was that Government will come up with a fund to bail out city firms.
“We are saying if the Government is very sincere about reviving industries in Bulawayo, an initiative or a fund specifically meant for city companies such as the Let Bulawayo Survive initiative should be established.
“It is important to ensure that the disbursement of funds to bail out industries should be done through banks that Government has a controlling stake.
“The confusion surrounding the $40 million Dimaf is also exacerbated by the fact that the Government does not have a controlling stake in CABS and therefore cannot give directives for the release of money to Bulawayo companies,” he said.
He said it was important for Government to engage banking institutions such as the Infrastructural Development Bank of Zimbabwe and CBZ Bank, where Government has a controlling stake.
When the $40 million Dimaf was launched in October 2011, CABS was appointed by Government as an agent through which firms would access the funds.
It was also agreed that $20 million of the fund would come from Government while the remainder was committed by Old Mutual and CABS.
The fund was established to assist local industries with working capital.
However, it is now six months since the fund was launched and companies are still struggling to access the facility due to a number of issues that include stringent conditions and confusion that the facility is not only for firms in Bulawayo alone.
CABS has also said Dimaf was non-existent because Government was yet to avail its $20 million.
Despite the liberalisation of the economy in February 2009, Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector has struggled to stimulate productivity to competitive levels due to cash flow challenges.
The manufacturing sector requires an estimated $2 billion to stimulate production to competitive levels.
Online Reporter