Chronicle Editor
Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
BUSINESS leaders in Bulawayo say the coming in of independence in 1980 paved way for the empowerment of the black majority as evidenced by the large footprint of indigenous-owned enterprises and influential positions held by Zimbabwean intellectuals in local and international companies.
The country gained independence from colonial rule on April 18, 1980, after a fierce armed struggle, which claimed the lives of many. As the country prepares to commemorate 40 years of Uhuru, business leaders have said that political freedom paved way for economic empowerment.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) national vice president, Mr Joseph Gunda, said the prevailing economic challenges would not overshadow the positive gains of the liberation struggle.
“We have seen a lot of upcoming indigenous businesspeople taking positions and ownership of various companies including international companies and most of them today are indigenously dominated in terms of entrepreneurship and ownership,” said Mr Gunda, also general manager for General Beltings.
“The independence brought a lot of positives for the country. If you look at the agricultural side, a lot of farmers are now empowered and we have registered success stories in agriculture, which we can write about.”
The industry leader also said several economic sectors have been liberalised to allow the many among the previously marginalised masses to own businesses that were a preserve of the white minority.
“We saw the liberalisation of a lot of other sectors that were previously dominated by our white folks. But what then needs to happen going forward is that we need to consolidate the gains of Independence because it’s not just about taking the reins from the whites, it’s about the proper empowerment economically of the black majority of the people,” said Mr Gunda.
“We have got ubiquitous resources (natural resources) in the country and we have not fully utilised them as black people. We still have a lot of challenges and we are still singing various songs from different hymn books among ourselves.”
He said the mining sector, for instance, has seen a huge jump in output, especially on gold deliveries, which are now dominated by small-scale miners. There is, however, a need to take this further by professionalising small scale mining, he said.
“Big companies did not start big. So, it gives us the confidence that as we start small, we need to follow proper channels and procedures,” said Mr Gunda.
In view of these challenges, Mr Gunda said the common purpose of celebrating Independence should inspire Zimbabweans to fully unite and collaborate in creating a prosperous future. This includes uniting to fight socio-economic ills such as corruption.
Bulawayo businessman and former Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) president, Mr Obert Sibanda, said the gains of Independence cannot be wished away.
“Indeed, the country has registered positives since the attainment of Independence but of course one looks at the challenges that we have now. We have had quite a number of challenges and those challenges have affected quite a number of sectors,” he said.
“Suffice to say we also have had quite a number of positive things regarding empowerment.”
Mr Sibanda said the Land Reform Programme was a key milestone in empowering thousands of Zimbabweans.
“People got land, which they are supposed to be farming although it could have been more productive. But by and large they are encouraged to use their various pieces of land productively so that the gains of Independence are cherished,” said Mr Sibanda.
“On the business sector, we also realise that we have had some businesspeople who have benefited through opportunities that came by way of indigenisation and opportunities that came after the indigenisation programme.
“Some of us in the construction sector we had opportunities that favoured indigenous contractors.”
Mr Sibanda said the education sector was also another area where Zimbabwe has done very well since 1980 and the gains should be cherished by all.
On the infrastructure side he said the country has managed to build infrastructure such as airports and roads that have improved the living standards of the citizens but more still needs to be done. – @okazunga.
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