Online Reporter
Remember Deketeke
Herald Correspondent
GOVERNMENT is pushing for the transformation of cooperatives from survivalist entities into commercially viable enterprises capable of driving rural industrialisation, creating jobs and contributing meaningfully to Zimbabwe’s economic growth.
This was said by Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Monica Mutsvangwa at a dissemination workshop of the Revised National Cooperative Societies Development Policy in Harare yesterday.
She said the revised policy provided a modern roadmap for strengthening the cooperative sector in line with the country’s Vision 2030 and National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2).
“Today marks a pivotal moment for the cooperatives sector as we gather under the auspices of the Zimbabwe National Cooperative Federation,” she said.
“Therefore, as the cooperative movement, we gather today to take the next decisive step in our journey as we transition from celebration to operationalisation, moving from launching a vision to executing a concrete roadmap.”
The Revised National Cooperative Societies Development Policy replaced the 2005 policy framework, which Minister Mutsvangwa said had served its purpose, but could no longer adequately respond to the changing local and global economic environment.
“The revised Policy seeks to drive Vision 2030 by positioning Zimbabwe as an empowered upper middle-income society and advancing the objectives of NDS2,” she said.
“Our primary objective is clear; to transform cooperatives from survivalist to structured, high-yield, and commercially viable economic powerhouses that leave a clear, traceable footprint in our national economic landscape.”
She said good governance and effective leadership were central to the success of cooperatives, warning that weak administration, financial mismanagement and lack of accountability had contributed to the collapse of some entities.
“No enterprise can outgrow the quality of its leadership, and history has taught us that some cooperatives have collapsed due to weak governance, financial mismanagement, and a lack of accountability,” she said.
The policy, she said, established standards for leadership competence, professionalised board administration and accountability.
“Auditing and accountability are no longer optional, but non-negotiable standards supported by automated systems to ensure complete transparency, because trust is the true currency of the cooperative movement and once lost, it is nearly impossible to regain,” she said.
Minister Mutsvangwa said strengthening governance should be accompanied by improved financial management and capital formation.
She said cooperatives needed to build strong asset bases, improve their creditworthiness and position themselves to access mainstream finance, grants and private sector investment.
“To grow sustainably, cooperatives must build real asset bases that reflect true economic weight,” she said.
“The policy provides clear guidelines to enhance financial discipline, improve creditworthiness, and unlock access to mainstream capital, grant funding, and private sector investments.”
The minister challenged cooperatives to embrace digital technologies to improve their operations and competitiveness.
She said financial technology, digital record-keeping, e-commerce, blockchain and artificial intelligence could help cooperatives participate more effectively in the modern economy.
“As our financial capacity strengthens, we must simultaneously drive a digital revolution across the entire movement,” she said.
“By integrating financial technologies, digitised record-keeping systems, e-commerce platforms for global marketing, blockchain for supply chain traceability, and artificial intelligence for business analytics, we ensure that our cooperatives are not left behind in an increasingly digital global economy.”
Sen Mutsvangwa said cooperatives should also move away from exporting raw commodities and instead focus on processing and value addition to capture greater economic value.
She officially opened the workshop, which she said should result in concrete action towards building viable and innovative cooperatives capable of contributing to rural industrialisation and Vision 2030.
