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Remember Deketeke
Herald Correspondent
Zimbabwe is projected to have rich pickings from extra business activities that took place during the just-ended SADC Industrialisation week and the upcoming SADC Summit and Zimbabwe Agricultural Show, analysts have said.
One of the immediate advantages of hosting such events is the anticipated economic boost.
The influx of delegates, officials and international visitors will result in increased hotel occupancy, higher local spending and a surge in demand for goods and services.
This temporary spike in economic activity can have lasting benefits by injecting much-needed capital into local businesses and creating a ripple effect that stimulates further economic growth.
Financial analyst and economist Professor Gift Mugano said these events will give Zimbabwe a chance to redefine and deepen its foreign policy.
“It is an opportunity for us to redefine our foreign policy because we are actually deepening our regional integration within the region,” he said.
“This will enable Zimbabwe to build strong and lasting relationships with its member states in the region, which should also create opportunities for us to extend more exports to those countries in the same way and also attract investments. That is very critical.”
The summit would not only showcase Zimbabwe as an economic powerhouse, Prof Mugano said it would also highlight the nation’s efforts to guarantee regional food security.
“The SADC Summit itself I think is good in the sense that it will give us as a country an opportunity to provide leadership to the region in terms of guaranteeing peace, stability, and food security,” he said. “And I also hope that the line ministers will take this into account. The summit is an opportunity for us to rekindle the idea of building Zimbabwe as a breadbasket for the region.”
Prof Mugano challenged the private sector to fully use such opportunities.
“But I also want to challenge the private sector.
“It is not enough to participate in these programmes without going back to production because you must have the capacity to also compete in the region,” he said.
“Otherwise, they can work to our disadvantage when they are used by regional players as an opportunity for them to market their product and use that as a warehouse for the region.”
“We need to fight for our space. When these opportunities are created, we must build the capacity to use such chances to our advantage,” Prof Mugano added.
Senior economist at the Labour and Economic Research Institute of Zimbabwe Dr Prosper Chitambara said these events would benefit the country in increased revenue and were an opportunity for more investments.
“These events are a boom for the Zimbabwean economy and even different sectors of our economy, including tourism, even in terms of showcasing our potential as an investment destination,” he said.
“I have seen the infrastructure investments that have actually been going on, that also space our economy.
“Definitely the country is set to cash in big on account of all these events that are happening in the month of August.”
Online Reporter