Sikhulekelani Moyo [email protected]
MATABELELAND South Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Albert Nguluvhe has urged Chinese investors to explore opportunities in the province, highlighting its vast mineral wealth, livestock and citrus production, while pointing to infrastructure gaps in tourism, transport and industrial development.
Speaking at the Zimbabwe-China Business Forum on the sidelines of the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, Minister Nguluvhe said he was proud of the province’s exhibitors and expressed confidence in their ability to penetrate the Chinese market.
He said Matabeleland South, which falls under Natural Region Five, was renowned for livestock production and citrus farming, producing what he described as the country’s best oranges.
“We produce the best oranges in the country. I know a lot of people talk of Mazoe; they are not aware that its concentrate is made from Beitbridge juice,” he said.
“I know the Chinese market is very big, but I hope and believe we will succeed in penetrating the market here in China.”
Minister Nguluvhe said his visit had exposed him to opportunities for value addition, particularly in citrus processing, where Chinese companies were drying, packaging and marketing oranges.
“I saw yesterday a company in Hunan, which is actually packaging. They dry the oranges and package them and sell them. So, I think that’s an area which we also need,” he said.
He appealed for investment in road construction, dams, agriculture and tourism infrastructure, revealing that the province lacked even a single four or five-star hotel and a conference centre.
“Matabeleland South is well known; it’s very rich in terms of minerals. We are a province that requires a lot of investment in terms of road construction, dams, agriculture, and tourism.
“We have a lot of national parks which require a lot of lodges, so I want to appeal to the business people that Matabeleland South is ready for them,” he said.
Highlighting Beitbridge’s strategic importance as a regional trade gateway, Minister Nguluvhe said the province hosts the biggest border post in the Southern Hemisphere, handling about 15 000 people and nearly 1 000 trucks daily.
“We have the biggest border post in the Southern region. Over 15 000 people pass every day going to South Africa or coming from South Africa, coming inland to Zambia, DRC and almost 1 000 trucks pass every day at the border post,” he said.
He said the volume of cross-border traffic presented opportunities for cold-chain infrastructure and logistics investment, while proposing the establishment of a cargo airport in Beitbridge to strengthen the movement of goods.
“So, my opinion is that we need cold rooms in Beitbridge so that we can expand, and actually we need an airport in Beitbridge. There’s no airport, and I think the best airport in Beitbridge would be the one that has a cargo airport,” he said.
Minister Nguluvhe said Zimbabwe’s educated, disciplined and hardworking workforce was another competitive advantage, urging local businesses to capitalise on China’s removal of tariffs on Zimbabwean products to expand exports.
“Our workforce, as you might be aware, Zimbabweans are very educated, so you get a very well-educated workforce, disciplined, hard-working people. So, I feel now that the Chinese have removed tariffs; our people must come here, export and import,” he said.
He said one of the key lessons from China’s development model was the deliberate identification of each province and city’s productive strengths, followed by targeted investment in processing and manufacturing.
“One thing I learned in China is that they identify province by province, city by city, see what it produces, then they add value in that area.
“We could open a big factory in Beitbridge because there’s citrus. We can open a big factory in Gwanda that does jewellery because there are minerals there. We can open something to do with livestock in Gwanda, in West Nicholson, and do leather,” he said.
Minister Nguluvhe said he wanted to organise businesses into sector-based clusters from next year to encourage specialisation, collaboration and investment in agriculture, mining and other productive industries.
“So, those are the areas which I’ve learned, which I think we will have to sit down at home. And I think from next year, I want to put people in terms of the groupings. Those in agriculture must concentrate on agriculture. Those in terms of mining must concentrate on mining. I want to put them in clusters,” he said.
He added that Chinese technology and skills transfer would be critical in unlocking the province’s economic potential and strengthening local productive capacity.
“The Chinese, in terms of technology, they have it. So, all that we require now is for them to come and impart the skills and the knowledge, and we can develop like that,” said Minister Nguluvhe.
Meanwhile, the Government has been urged to accelerate industrialisation in Matabeleland South by establishing mineral processing plants and downstream industries closer to resource-rich communities to ensure the province derives greater economic benefits from its vast mineral wealth.
Matabeleland South Senator Richard Ndlovu said the national drive towards mineral beneficiation and value addition should go beyond extracting raw materials to building local manufacturing capacity, creating employment and expanding business opportunities.
Contributing to the debate on the State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by President Mnangagwa in September, in the Senate last week, Senator Ndlovu said Matabeleland South was strategically positioned to benefit from the country’s industrialisation agenda, given its deposits of gold, lithium, nickel and other minerals.
