Online Reporter
Dr Michael Musanzikwa
Economic prosperity is based on the wise utilisation of resources such as land, labour, minerals and entrepreneurship.
Critically, procurement is the common element in facilitating the needs of different parties in enhancing production for delivery of the final good or service to the end user.
Procurement is a strategic invisible instrument used to distribute the scarce financial resource in acquiring goods, services as well as infrastructure projects for the good of the country.
When governments present national budgets, the purpose is to stimulate economic activity through national spending, which results in production, employment and wealth creation.
However, this is only achieved by being decisive in identifying local enterprise procurement as the driver of value addition and economic prosperity.
The Government’s philosophical ideology is for the country to be built by its own people, meaning that locals should take ownership of their resources through local enterprises and be part of the economic mainstream.
They should exploit resources for productive value addition.
This initiative has been accelerated by the Government through identifying critical pillars to empower local businesspeople through relevant knowledge of the resources available for exploitation; relevant business and technical skills needed to make things happen; and capital in the form of equipment or working capital.
So, the Government, as the custodian of national resources, can be a key driver of development through using procurement as an invisible hand in distributing the national cake in a fair, transparent and competitive manner.
The Government, through its administrative organ, the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe, has ensured the integrity of the process through a sound administrative system.
However, for Zimbabweans to benefit from the distribution of the national cake (national budget) and be part of the mainstream economy, they must comply with the regulatory requirements for the tendering system.
Although this might differ from one sector to the other, generally, the expectations include a certificate of incorporation, a tax clearance certificate and a National Social Security Authority (NSSA) certificate.
In a move to promote and strengthen local producers and suppliers, the Government established a legal provision, under Section 29 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act (PPDPA) of Chapter 22:23 of 2017, that gives preference and priority to local suppliers.
In this regard, procuring entities must:
Prioritise procurement of locally produced goods and services, where these meet the required quality, technical and pricing standards;
Provide domestic preference margins in procurement evaluation criteria;
Avoid unnecessary preference for imported goods where adequate local alternatives exist;
Ensure procurement planning incorporates deliberate support for Zimbabwe’s industrialisation and local economic empowerment agenda.
Competitive tendering
According to international best practice, the tendering system or competitive tendering is the most appropriate tool of distributing limited financial resources.
It is also considered the best instrument in committing public funds as it enables fairness, transparency, competitiveness, value for money and integrity.
When the competitive tendering system is applied on the local enterprise space, it will have a multiplier effect through employment creation, rising demand for various goods and services, and economic vibrancy through value-addition processes.
For example, during the rehabilitation of roads damaged by the incessant rains of 2025 under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme, most contracts were awarded to local contractors, which resulted in lots of economic spillovers.
The Government and pressure groups such as Buy Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce are on record encouraging businesses in sectors such as industry and commerce, mining, agriculture and tourism to take advantage of the provision that encourages the promotion of local enterprise procurement.
While it is a noble idea to empower and promote local business enterprises, this must be done without compromise to quality and value for money.
This is where the challenge is for most local businesses.
The procurement community in organisations tends to shun local suppliers because of poor-quality goods.
Zimbabwe is on a new trajectory of achieving an upper middle-income economy through Vision 2030, and the Government has since established a sound administrative system that will enhance a value-addition productive cycle of resources for the benefit of the citizenry.
The Government identified and activated the following critical pillars:
Empowering school learners through computerisation of all primary and secondary schools in Zimbabwe
Skills knowledge and research through innovation hubs in all universities, polytechnics and technical colleges
Provision of capital for small and medium enterprises through local banks, as well as establishment of a women’s microfinance bank
Financial support for replacing ageing equipment for industry
Supporting agriculture and mining through equipment sourced from countries such as Belarus and China.
Encouraging foreign direct investment to create domestic industrial linkages to maximise on local value addition.
Overall, the journey for local enterprise to be a critical enabler for value addition in Zimbabwe should start by enriching the mindset of our businesspeople to do what is right, and this starts by sharpening the mindset of the young learner with the right skills.
This would naturally enable learners to explore, through research and innovation in the various productive sectors, ways and means to drive value addition.
The procurement community must also appreciate the path that has been taken by the Government to promote economic empowerment through value addition by local enterprises.
This can be enabled by supporting the local enterprise to be an efficient, effective and reliable future quality supplier by considering these factors:
Dr Michael Musanzikwa is the chief director (procurement and disposal of public assets) in the Office of the President and Cabinet.
