adminto be contributing to our increased import dependency.
Most respondents who agreed with our observation seem to be impatient over our country’s slow response in dealing with the problem. There is also genuine concern that our beloved Zimbabwe has allowed a situation in which many of our citizens are left without any choice but to do anything to take care of their families.
One particular reader wrote about the dilemma of a civil servant who earns less than US$400 a month, has four children who are in boarding school including one of who is due to sit for Ordinary Level examinations.
Inasmuch as the particular civil servant understands the consequences of buying and selling imported goods and services, their immediate focus is to take their children to school and ensure that the child who is supposed to sit for Ordinary Level actually does so.
As a result the immediate concern faced by this particular individual far outweighs whatever benefits are prescribed by Buy Zimbabwe. The challenge to Buy Zimbabwe and Government, according to this particular respondent, is thus to come up with practical solutions to deal with immediate problems faced by families in Zimbabwe, most of whom are earning less than Poverty Datum Line incomes.
One also gets the feeling that the genuine outcry over increased imports, while clearly understood and supported, is taking low priority in many Zimbabwean family day-to-day purchasing decisions.
True, given our fear that our focus of here and now will invariably lead to economic disaster we also need to be fair and accept that the above capture the reality of the dilemma that our country faces.
In any case, Adam Smith’s concept of rational buyers and consumers appears to be totally out of sync with consumer behaviour.
What seems to apply more often than not, is the observation by Kenyan Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai, that a poor man would rather cut down his last tree to have his last meal.
On close reflection to the situation at an ordinary consumer level also explains some of the difficulties that Buy Zimbabwe faces in mobilising the necessary resources and funding required to make fundamental shifts in policy as well as public buying practices.
In comparison to South Africa, whose Proudly South African campaign commands billions of rands and has support of government, labour unions and consumers, our own Buy Zimbabwe initiative still remains a programme whose objective is accepted as noble but one with little material support.
Since its inception in 2011, the initiative which boasts slightly above 20 partners who contribute an average of US$6 000 a year, is not getting any money from Government and struggles to embark on any significant promotional activities.
Outside a few publications who have come in support of its cause, the media, especially electronic, who have taken a battering from foreign alternatives, are largely in a state of apathy.
In the main, both the ordinary consumer and corporates in Zimbabwe are fixated on survival and in no mood to entertain any notion of safeguarding the long-term economic interest of their own and the country.
Even companies that have felt the full weight of imports appear set on a path that seeks immediate solutions rather than embrace a cause and programme tailor-made to enhance their productivity and competitiveness.
Most are also unwilling to engage the local consumer and have retreated into self-made enclaves where they hope by some miracle this import dependency nightmare will disappear. In essence the country is not prepared to listen to any argument as to why we should change our habits.
While it is tempting to be prescriptive, it must be admitted that Buy Zimbabwe faces an insurmountable task and one in which solutions can only come from well-meaning Zimbabweans who have the capacity to see beyond immediate challenges.
A view suggested by one reader is for management and workers in companies that no longer have any prospect of survival as long as the current scenario remains to begin a mass mobilisation programme similar to the protests we saw in the US and Europe in 2012.
At the very least they must also begin petitioning Government to enact right policies and on designated days march in various cities of Zimbabwe demanding a stop to activities that impoverish us.
The reader estimates that every single day one factory closes and over a 100 workers are made redundant.
In a single month no less than 2 000 workers are made jobless. This is an addition to many who are not getting paid or getting sub-optimal salaries, which means most of our productive workforce joins the ranks of the unemployed every single day.
The key is for these workers to turn their misfortune into a source of strength by becoming a backbone to a programme that awakens our country to the calamity of our situation.
Buy Zimbabwe finds this solution appealing and one which will highlight to our Government that we cannot continue managing our economy the way we have been.
While entrepreneurship and through programmes such as My Own Boss, Zimbabweans have been encouraged to become masters of their own destiny, what has also become evident is that as long as practices of import dependency continue the quest for entrepreneurship is shortlived.
For every dollar created locally two would go out. In the end our entrepreneurs will have high failure rate.
Together with such programmes as increased scrutiny on public procurement practices as well as rewarding organisations such as Zimplats and Mimosa who have now come out in full support of local procurement practices, we are convinced the public show of anger by companies that carry the brunt of skewed policies will do the trick.
Finally, we confirm that momentum for the procurement conference continues to build. Some of keynote speakers will include Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere and Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Mike Bimha.
From the private and public sector, we have Zimbabwe Revenue Authority Commissioner-General Gershem Pasi and Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce president Oswell Binha among other prominent speakers.
Hope to see you in June and remember it is wise to Buy Zimbabwe. Till next week. God bless.
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Online Reporter