Online Reporter
Sikhulekelani Moyo, [email protected]
NATIONAL Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) acting chief executive officer, Mrs Ainah Dube-Kaguru, has been elected president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) Matabeleland Region, with a mandate to unite industry and drive a shift from imports to manufacturing and exports.
In acceptancy remarks read on her behalf by NRZ chief marketing and business development manager Mr Takunda Madanha on Monday, Mrs Kaguru said her leadership would be anchored on three pillars: unity, production and integrity.
“I accept the responsibility to serve as president of the regional Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries,” she said.
“Thank you to the outgoing executive. Thank you to the nominations committee and to every member who placed their trust in me. Today is not about me. It’s about the two million jobs, the factories, the farmers, and the families of those whose livelihoods depend on the thriving Zimbabwean and more specifically, the raw material industry.”
Mrs Kaguru acknowledged the tough operating environment but said Zimbabwean enterprises had the resilience to recover.
“To be honest, we met at a difficult time. Number one, we have a power cost, raw materials are expensive, foreign currency is tight, policy uncertainty makes planning hard and our people are tired. But hardship has never killed Zimbabwean enterprise, it has refined it,” she said.
Mrs Kaguru outlined her priorities for the term saying there is a need to unite, move as a team and speak with one voice for the betterment of the sector.
“Manufacturing, agro-processing, mining, input suppliers and SMEs all need to work together. We will rise or fall together. No more fragmentation. We take one position to Government and to labour, ” she said.
“We will fight for number one, stable power and cost-effective tariffs, we will stop illicit imports that kill local jobs.
We will fight for access to affordable and long-term capital. On skills, we are going to partner with polytechnics so that youths are employable.”
Mrs Kaguru said the confederation will engage Government as partners, not as backers and called for ethical business practice.
“Zimbabwe does not have a resource problem; we have an execution problem. So, my commitment to you is, I will be accessible, I will be accountable, I will fight for you in both rooms, in Harare and in regional forums,” she said.
“The road ahead is hard, but I believe in the Zimbabwean industry, I believe in Zimbabwe. Together, let us rebuild, let us produce, let us employ, let us make Zimbabwe work again.”
Newly appointed regional vice president, Julius Tapera, who is an Associate Professor of Management Sciences and assistant to the Vice-Chancellor at Lupane State University, pledged to strengthen the academia-industry link.
Second vice president Mr Ignatius Kwidini, a packaging specialist from Rensford, said the new executive would work as a team with members.
The new leadership team will officially assume office after the CZI Annual General Meeting, which will be held on August 5 in Harare.
