Online Reporter
Nqobile Bhebhe. [email protected]
THE government has revived the Zimbabwe Development Corporation (ZDC) as part of a renewed push to accelerate rural industrialisation and ensure communities across the country actively participate in value addition and beneficiation initiatives.
Industry and Commerce Minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu said the corporation, which was formed in the early 2000s specifically to spearhead rural industrialisation, had become dormant over the years but has now been reactivated with a new board to drive its mandate.
Responding to questions in Parliament ON Wednesday, Minister Ndlovu said the revival of ZDC was a strategic move aimed at expanding the rural industrialisation concept and consolidating various initiatives under a co-ordinated framework.
“We have a company that Government formed in the early 2000s called Zimbabwe Development Corporation specifically to drive rural industrialisation.
“Over the years, it had become dormant. We have revived this company. We have set up a new board for it. Its primary mandate is to identify within rural communities, areas where there are opportunities for value addition.
“They will be partnering with local communities and we will be funding this institution to set up factories in support of the Committee that the Minister of Agriculture is sharing,” said Minister Ndlovu.
He said the move was informed by the demographic reality that the bulk of Zimbabwe’s population resides in rural areas, making it imperative for Government to deliberately promote industrial growth beyond urban centres.
“The majority of our people reside in rural areas. We are aware that if we do not promote industry growth in rural areas, our people will be left behind.
“It is with this in mind that the Government has taken several initiatives to drive rural industrialisation. The Cabinet yesterday approved a Committee which is chaired by the Minister of Agriculture, called Rural Development and Industrialisation, which will consolidate all the initiatives that are taking place to drive rural industrialisation,” he said.
The newly-approved Cabinet Committee on Rural Development and Industrialisation is expected to harmonise policies and programmes across ministries, ensuring that rural-based production systems graduate from primary commodity supply to structured value chains with local processing capacity.
Minister Ndlovu said the Ministry of Industry and Commerce would also table before Parliament programmes related to Community Economic Empowerment Trusts, which have been transformed from community ownership trusts to strengthen linkages between extractive industries and surrounding communities.
“I will be bringing to this august House, programmes related to Community Economic Empowerment Trust, which are institutions transformed from community ownership trusts, aimed at making sure that there is a link between the companies that are in the extractive sector in their communities and the supply chain around those companies,” he said.
The initiative seeks to ensure that communities hosting mining and other extractive operations benefit not only through royalties and dividends, but also through integration into supply chains, service provision and downstream processing activities.
In addition, Minister Ndlovu indicated that the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development would present proposals aimed at scaling up Village Business Units into fully-fledged value addition and beneficiation enterprises.
“Again, I think the Minister of Agriculture will present a paper once the submissions have been made on the growth of Village Business Units graduating into value addition and beneficiation, setting up of the factories in rural industries,” he said.
The revival of the Zimbabwe Development Corporation is expected to play a catalytic role in identifying viable rural-based industries, mobilising funding and partnering communities to establish processing plants closer to raw material sources.
The broader thrust aligns with Government’s drive under the Second Republic to decentralise industrial growth, reduce rural-urban migration and stimulate inclusive economic transformation through localised production systems.
Bongani Ndlovu