Special Economic Zones for provinces

CABINET has approved a landmark framework for Integrated Provincial Special Economic Zones (IP-SEZs), in a major policy shift aimed at unlocking industrial growth across the country and breaking the long-standing concentration of investment and development in major urban centres.

The initiative is expected to transform provinces into production and investment hubs tailored to their unique economic strengths, accelerating job creation, infrastructure development, value addition and export growth as the country pushes towards Vision 2030 of an upper-middle-income society.

Announcing the outcomes of yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Zhemu Soda said Cabinet approved the framework for establishing the IP-SEZ model.

The policy focus is not merely on creating industrial parks in select areas, but on developing a province-to-province integration strategy and decentralised industrial development.

The Government said the IP-SEZ philosophy is guided by the principle of “leaving no one and no place behind”.

In that regard, the model is designed to ensure that provinces benefit according to their strengths, while also improving how value chains are built, from raw materials to finished products.

Said Minister Soda: “Cabinet noted and approved the framework for the establishment of the Integrated Provincial Special Economic Zones (IP-SEZ).

“Government seeks to strengthen the existing framework for Special Economic Zones under the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) Act [ Chapter 14: 34] through the creation of a framework for provincial integration and decentralised industrial development in line with the philosophy of ‘leaving no one and no place behind’.

“The envisaged benefits include, inter alia, accelerated industrialisation and value-addition, promoting balanced regional development, enhanced investment attraction, employment creation and skills development, and enhancing Zimbabwe’s competitiveness in regional and global markets.”

Minister Soda said the IP – SEZ framework will establish a network of specialised SEZs distributed across all provinces, starting with Village Business Units and aligned to comparative advantages and structured as complete industrial ecosystems comprising upstream production, midstream processing, downstream manufacturing, logistics, infrastructure, and services.

“The model will ensure that SEZs will not operate as isolated industrial parks but as complete production and investment clusters,” said Minister Soda.

He added that the IP-SEZ framework is built on six strategic pillars, which are: the provincial comparative advantage, beneficiation and resource-based industrialisation, integrated industrial value chains, export-oriented production, public-private partnership development, import substitution and domestic industrial deepening.

Harare Metropolitan will be responsible for financial services, ICT, pharmaceuticals, light manufacturing and business process outsourcing (BPOs), while Bulawayo Metropolitan will focus on agro-processing, tourism, renewable energy and diamond processing.

Manicaland will be responsible for agro-processing, tourism, renewable energy and diamond processing, with Mashonaland Central set for mining beneficiation and agro-processing.

Mashonaland East will be for lithium processing and agro–industrial development, while Mashonaland West will be responsible for agro-processing, fisheries and aquaculture.

Midlands will be a hub for steel, iron beneficiation and logistics, while Masvingo will focus on agro-processing, lithium and iron beneficiation.

Matabeleland North’s area of focus is energy, tourism and timber processing, with Matabeleland South tackling logistics, beef and leather and solar energy.

Minister Soda said Cross-cutting strategic Provincial Industrial Development includes mineral beneficiation SEZs, agro-processing, logistics, tourism and energy-linked SEZs.

“The successful implementation of the IP-SEZ model depends on sound governance and institutional framework comprising the National Licensing Authority and decentralised Provincial Licensing Committees.”