Online Reporter
Sikhulekelani Moyo Zimpapers Business Hub
The City of Bulawayo is set to leverage the Business Council for Sustainable Development Zimbabwe (BCSDZ) Annual Conference to examine how the city aligns its programmes with the Sustainable Development Goals and the importance of partnerships in achieving these goals as a city.
The two-day event, scheduled to take place on 27 and 28 November, will run under the theme: “Industry 5.0: A Tool for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development.”
Responding to Zimpapers Business Hub, City of Bulawayo economic development manager Mr Kholisani Moyo said the conference is a very important annual event, as it is being organised by key industries, with big companies being involved from different sectors, including banking and finance, internet service providers, sugar industries, parastatals, among other players.
He said these are big companies that are involved in sustainable development.
“As you are aware that as countries or even cities, we have a responsibility to support or to make sure that whatever we do is in line with a Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), so the city is involved in those initiatives so that when you plan your work, you make sure that all your programs are in line with sustainable development,” said Mr Moyo.
“This program is going to be here in Bulawayo; all these major players will be coming to the city, and we are also going to participate in terms of presentation for the city.
“We have been given a slot to present on a topic, “winning public-private partnership”, which is crucial for implementing sustainability initiatives and achieving sustainable goals. This is a very broad topic where we want to look at how the city aligns its program with sustainable development goals and the importance of partnerships in achieving sustainable development goals as a city.”
Mr Moyo said the topic is very important as it aligns with Sustainable Development Goal number 17, which speaks of partnerships for goals.
“We are saying how do we leverage those partnerships to develop cities to achieve our goal of service delivery,” added Mr Moyo.
“You have seen in the past how the City of Bulawayo has partnered with private players, even in terms of our development of residential stands; we’ve got partnerships around that area, so this is another area, which is important, where if you don’t have resources, then you go into what you call the PPPs.
He said partnerships have helped to achieve some goals in terms of waste collection, done through the collaboration with small truckers.
On water delivery, Mr Moyo said organisations like the African Development Bank and other partners are coming, and by so doing, the city is fulfilling Sustainable Development Goal Number 17.
“Again, we also want to look at some of key issues, when you look at sustainable development goals, things like good corporate governance, financing initiatives like I said when you want to do certain projects and you don’t have funding you then leverage on partnerships for development but again, we also want to understand more about green financing in terms of projects and so forth,” added Mr Moyo.
“These are some of the things that we are planning to do as a city, and I’m sure this will also bring some other views about how we can work as a local authority with the private sector to achieve sustainable development goals.”
