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Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has said.
He said he is working on ensuring that procurement provisions in the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act are implemented. Against this background, public and private companies have been urged to put in place frameworks that give priority to procurement from local suppliers and manufacturers, to preserve jobs and resources, he said.
Minister Kasukuwere said his ministry would soon gazette a statutory instrument to give effect to the 50 percent local procurement requirement as spelt out in the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act. Chapter 3 (f) of the legislation provides that Government departments, statutory bodies, local authorities and all other companies shall procure at least 50 percent of their goods and services in terms of the Procurement Act (Chapter 22:15).
Minister Kasukuwere said there were high levels of youth unemployment and an underperforming industry, as Zimbabwe imported US$8,2 billion worth of goods against US$5 billion exports in 2012. He said there was an urgent need to scale up the empowerment of local manufacturers and suppliers.
“In an age where relatively more sophisticated economies, such as South Africa and Australia, have mandatory local procurement quotas, our country must come to the realisation that it cannot continue sidelining its local business people while channelling scarce financial resources towards creation of employment in other countries,” he said.
His ministry would continue to insist on local procurement quotas. He urged industry to play its part to drive this agenda. Government had already made great strides in similar endeavours through laws compelling foreign-owned companies to sell off at least 51 percent shareholding to indigenous investors, he said.
“With greater understanding that local ownership is pivotal to our economic growth and prosperity, the time has come for public and private companies to put in place policies and programmes that give preference to our local suppliers and manufacturers,” he said.
Minister Kasukuwere was speaking at a procurement conference organised by the Buy Zimbabwe Trust.
He said Zimbabwe’s motor industry and the pharmaceutical sector, which used to employ directly over 100 000 people and created a network of value chain companies, were teetering on the verge of collapse due to continued preference for imported products, some of which were sub-standard. He also criticised Government, saying big local companies, such as vehicle assembler Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries, in which the State holds significant shareholding, faced collapse yet Government continued to buy vehicles from abroad.
“The public tender system has also not spared our industries, as it has periodically favoured foreign companies at the expense of locals on account of alleged uncompetitiveness. The ‘foreign’ is better mindset in our institutions, retailers and regrettably, some of our people, has also created a situation in which those of our products that have sought to become more competitive, better packaged and less pricey are also stigmatised,” he said.
As a result of the reliance on imported products, Zimbabwe had become largely a consumer country, with little production in industry, a situation that has helped keep capacity utilisation depressed.
Minister Kasukuwere also called for support for small and medium enterprises to build household firms the same way South Korea nurtured its SMEs for leading brands today such as Samsung, Daewoo, Hyundai and LG, by firms that started small.
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce president Mr Oswald Binha said Government needed to legislate for local procurement.
“When some of our neighbours (SA) have in place procurement Acts and accords that call for a minimum 70 percent local procurement we ask that Government pays attention to such developments,” he said.
“As Buy Zimbabwe, our interest is for growth of local industry and commerce, policies that enhance competitiveness, programmes that enhance visibility of our products on supermarket chains, whether local or foreign, increased transparency in public tender programmes and empowerment of locals as a means of poverty eradication and wealth creation,” he said.
Online Reporter