Lights, camera, action

been in the news since my early days in journalism.
It was either down, or some technicians from India, China or outer space would come to sort it out or some such story until one day, it ceased to function.

The smaller furnaces could not do what the big conical tower of fire could.
At that point I did not understand much pertaining to what this furnace was all about but I just liked the name – Blast Furnace Number Four – and the excitement it caused when it was either firing or was down.

With time, through education from the likes of Itai Masuku, Hatred Zenenga and Shame Chibvongodze, who were my seniors then, I got to appreciate that this particular furnace was critical not just for Zisco but for the entire economy.
Not just for Zimbabwe but for the African continent at large, seeing as Zisco was only one of a few steel plants on the continent and maybe only one of two in Southern Africa.

The story at Blast Furnace Number Four is about to change, and with it, that of the entire economy, thanks to the deal between Government and Essar Global, who are now the majority shareholders in the rebranded Ziscosteel- New Zimbabwe Steel – with a 54 percent stake.
Indeed, Blast Furnace Number Four is about to get busy one more time. The burning furnace, which feels quite hot even when one is more than 50 metres away, is about to do that which it was installed to do.

Essar seems to mean business. You get the mood that these guys are not politicking but are really ready to roll. Of course, we almost got the same feeling with Jindall Steel in 2007/2008 but at that point we were too desperate and had overlooked a lot but this time around, the Indians mean business.
I had the pleasure, a few weeks ago of visiting their head office in Mumbai where a meeting with Essar steel chief executive Mr Malay Mukherjee and his team comprising chief financial officer steel business Mr Mahadev Iyer, vice president corporate communications Mr B. Ganeshi Pai, deputy manager Nitin Sanakai and chairman’s secretariat Devesh Khandelwal gave me the impression that these guys are ready to roll.

I remember during our discussions Mr Mukherjee saying Zimbabwe was endowed with huge resources which it had just not “exploited right”.
I took it to mean that Zimbabwe was still to realise its full potential from its endowments and that Essar would help the country achieve that.
Therefore, the sealing of the deal and the launch of the new steel plant by President Mugabe last week is the beginning of bigger and better things to come.
Not only should we expect billions of dollars to flow in and thousands of jobs created but that other downstream industries and sectors of the economy will also come alive again.

For every job created in the steel industry, five are created downstream. So if my mathematics is right, the first batch of 3 500 will give us 17 500 jobs in other sectors that feed into or out of the steel plant.
This is good news on any day. Our statistics on unemployment are not exciting at all so every job created does count.
This is the renaissance of the steel plant and the national economy at large.

We could write a book to describe the benefits of the re-opening of the steel plant not just to Zimbabwe but the region as a whole. The sorry sight of former workers who were languishing in poverty when Blast Furnace Number Four and the entire steel plant ceased, should now be replaced with wide grins as breadwinners are getting their jobs back while new employees will also find space as the plant gets busier.

Minister of Finance Tendai Biti is also expecting no small change from the activity as New Zim Steel in terms of dividends, profits and other revenue flows from the plant.
Local authorities are over the moon in terms of potential revenue from rentals and rates, etc, while attendant development projects should raise the status of Redcliff, Kwekwe and the entire Midlands province.

But as we all celebrate this major development that makes the US$100 billion economy dream more and more real, it is critical that as a country we safeguard ourselves from mere complacency.
The powers that be need to do everything possible to ensure that Zimbabwe not only retains such kind of investment but also ensure that more investors of this magnitude come our way. It is not easy to attract the attention of a serious investor but once we do so, let us keep them captivated. Let’s not continue to score own goals through policy inconsistencies or cheap politicking.

Let us demonstrate to the outside world that we are a serious economy set to achieve much and alert them to the fact that Zimbabwe is a highly competitive destination for investment.
Mr Richard Mbaiwa, Zimbabwe Investment Authority chief executive, and company should move a gear up to ensure that the one-stop shop facility runs as effectively as possible, while complemented by road shows to sell the country’s attributes. There are so many investment opportunities that these big companies can venture into.

There are so many minerals that remain untapped which need the kind of funds that foreign investors can bring in joint ventures with the locals.
As the President said at the launch, poor management cannot be tolerated at parastatals and even private companies because these have a tendency to run things down as had happened at Zisco.

All systems should be put in place to facilitate economic growth. “This investment (New Zimbabwe Steel) bodes well for both the iron and steel industry and the generality of industry at local and regional levels,” said President Mugabe.

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