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ZIMBABWEANS joined the rest of the world in ushering in a brand new year on Thursday and with it new possibilities and challenges. Following the 2013 harmonised elections, hopes were high that 2014 would be a year of implementing policies to grow the economy and improve the lot of the generality of the people of this country.
However, not much progress was recorded on this front with a host of challenges impeding the Zanu-PF government from fulfilling the electoral promises it laid out in its brilliant manifesto. From the beginning, Treasury was hamstrung by low receipts with Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa forced to play a delicate balancing act in his fiscal policy statements.
With the manufacturing sector still recording low capacity utilisation levels and a host of companies closing down, it was always going to be a Herculean task for government coffers to have any meaningful inflows.
On this score, it is critical that this year, government prioritises capacitating the productive sector with industry and agriculture adequately supported to start firing on all cylinders. Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha has been doing a sterling job and his working relationship with captains of industry has been cordial.
By now we are certain he has consulted enough and is in the process of crafting a policy to help turnaround the fortunes of the manufacturing sector. Basically industry needs a conducive environment to operate in with costs of production needing to be looked at as a matter of urgency.
Zimbabwean products are generally expensive compared to cheap imports and it is crucial that this matter is addressed. The Buy Zimbabwe campaign can only succeed if local products are not priced out of the market. To enhance quality of locally produced goods, companies need to be capacitated to secure modern equipment and retool.
They also require access to cheap financing. Lines of credit have not been forthcoming to Zimbabwe and efforts have to be made to convince international multilateral institutions to extend cheap loans to the country. In the same vein, Zimbabwe desperately needs to attract foreign direct investment as this is crucial to turning around the economy.
We are glad that moves are already afoot to clarify the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment laws to make them sector specific. The civil service wage bill also needs to be looked into and Minister Chinamasa has already indicated that the bloated government workforce will soon be rationalised.
It does not make sense that in a country that is struggling to manage its budget deficit, the civil service wage bill gobbles more than 80 percent of the budget. It’s a scenario that is totally unsustainable and we applaud Minister Chinamasa for having the presence of mind to bite the bullet and forge ahead with plans to trim the government employees.
Minister Chinamasa also needs to tighten the screws on all line ministries and ensure that they stick to their budgets and curtail extravagance. Fiscal discipline will be at the heart of any economic turnaround measures.
Agriculture needs support and farmers should by now have received all the necessary inputs and ancillary services to boost yield. The introduction of bond coins by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was a masterstroke although their full impact is yet to be felt.
The issue of change was a headache for businesses and we are glad that it’s now a thing of the past.
We also applaud the three mobile phone network providers — Econet, Telecel and Net One for abiding by a Postal and Telecommunications Authority of Zimbabwe directive to lower tariffs in line with regional trends by January 1.
Economic turnaround can only be possible with the active participation and unity of purpose of every Zimbabwean. Let’s make 2015 the year to achieve this milestone. It is not insurmountable.
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu