Parastatals to miss restructuring deadline

likely to miss this month’s deadline for the completion of the first phase of the restructuring exercise.
The Government had pushed the deadline to the end of this month from an earlier target of December last year.
Bureaucratic constraints and the lack of a specific regulatory framework to operationalise the restructuring processes have contributed to the slow pace of implementation of the exercise.
Zimbabwe has around 78 State enterprises and parastatals, including the 10 that have been earmarked for restructuring.
The 10 include Ziscosteel, Noczim, Agribank, Zimbabwe Power Company, Grain Marketing Board, Cold Storage Company, Air Zimbabwe, NRZ, TelOne and NetOne.
Of these, only Ziscosteel has been progressively restructured with the Government disposing 53,4 percent shareholding to Mauritian firm Essar Africa Holdings, which is expected to recapitalise the steelmaker.
In regards to the Essar-Zisco deal, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is currently finalising a progress report for a detailed update of the transaction to be presented to Cabinet.
On the other hand, restructuring proposals for Air Zimbabwe, the National Railways of Zimbabwe, NetOne and TelOne are yet to be considered as the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Infrastructure Development is still in the process of considering recommendations for their reformations.
In a report submitted to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on State Enterprises and Parastatals by State Enterprises and Parastatals Minister Gorden Moyo last week, he said the establishment of a parastatals restructuring agency was still at a basic level.
“The principles of the State Enterprises Restructuring Agency (SERA) Bill are yet to be submitted to Cabinet. The Bill seeks to establish SERA as a legal entity to enable it to execute its mandate effectively.
“The draft principles of the Bill seek to legally establish the SERA and provide for its functions and responsibilities and make provisions for the institutional framework for the restructuring programme,” said the minister.
The fact that the Ministry of State Enterprises and Parastatals has no direct authority over the majority of State enterprises and parastatals because they fall under the direct supervision of the respective line ministries meaning the decision-making process is unnecessarily prolonged.