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Zimbabwe’s premier international trade exhibition showcase — the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) — ended yesterday, with the participation of local and foreign companies taking centre stage. The Sunday Mail’s DEBRA MATABVU spoke to Industry and Commerce Minister MANGALISO NDLOVU (pictured), who shared his insights on the country’s industrial landscape and its journey towards economic prosperity.
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Q: Can you begin by giving us your assessment of this year’s edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair?
A: This year’s edition of the ZITF has been a huge success when looking at all the requisite indicators.
They are showing that the number of exhibitors improved, from 565 last year to more than 630 this year.
We also had 26 foreign countries participating, up from 21 last year.
In addition, we also had more than 109 new exhibitors.
This is very pleasing and an indication of growth of the event, especially at a time when we are continuing to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Q: What is your assessment of the overall response of local business sector to the ZITF?
A: We are happy that this year the exhibition is tilted more towards business — that is, the private sector — as compared to having Government-linked institutions as the main exhibitors.
We have more and more private sector players coming through.
In fact, because of space constraints, we could not allocate space to about 112 companies that wanted to exhibit. That alone is a sign of growing demand.
Q: How has hosting the ZITF fed into growing international trade by local industry?
A: While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (and International Trade) handles issues of trade, we remain a critical stakeholder because we develop the products for trade.
We work closely with ZimTrade, even though they are under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for trade facilitation.
I can say we have seen growth in demand for our products, especially in regional markets.
We will be pushing this quite aggressively during my assignment in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
Q: What strategies will you be deploying to facilitate enhanced industrial growth?
A: When we are talking about growing strong industries, the Zimbabwean market alone is very small.
We need to explore opportunities on the African continent, leveraging on instruments such as the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement and the many other trade protocols that we are party to so that we exploit the bigger opportunities in the region, before spreading our wings beyond the continent.
As a ministry, we intend to have a strong bias towards increasing our industry’s competitiveness and making sure we aggressively address factors that are driving costs of production.
This will ensure we provide quality products that are affordable and competitive in foreign markets.
Q: The Government recently unveiled a new currency — Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) — that is backed by gold, cash reserves and other precious minerals. How do you see the introduction of ZiG impacting industry’s competitiveness and Zimbabwe’s trade with other countries?
A: The first thing we need to acknowledge is that we cannot grow our industry while using foreign currency, especially the United States dollar. It is a very strong currency.
It makes importing very easy, creating unnecessary competition for our local products.
We are excited that the Government has taken a bold move of introducing this new currency and is also rolling out measures to ensure that it stabilises the macro-economy.
I really want to rehash the message by the Vice President, Dr Constantino Chiwenga, during the ZITF International Business Conference, that we can only benefit from a stable currency.
No one will benefit from it being volatile.
I hope people will not push the Government to end up taking stern measures against those who will try to manipulate it.
Q: How has industry received the new currency?
A: For us, it is an opportunity to really invest in massive production so that we can export. A weaker currency allows your products, other things being constant, to compete in other markets because they are relatively cheaper.
That is why China is able to penetrate markets across the world. The United States dollar has been wreaking havoc in our economy.
From an industry and commerce perspective, this is a great move that we celebrate and hope captains of industry will take advantage of.
Q: How do you see Zimbabwean industry transitioning from being a producer of primary goods and services to a producer of high-quality tertiary goods that are in demand in global markets?
A: According to the World Bank, the share of global manufacturing value-added goods attributable to high-tech industries has doubled since 1990.
This shift highlights the growing importance of innovation-driven economies in today’s world.
It is, therefore, imperative that we understand and harness the power of innovation to drive growth and prosperity.
While traditional industries, heavily reliant on the exploitation of natural resources, are important, particularly for the well-endowed economies like most African countries, these are quite volatile owing to fluctuating commodity prices, and we have seen that such markets or sectors often struggle to sustain competition in a globalised market.
The returns are diminishing and the need for a new approach is evident.
This is where innovation comes into play. By fostering innovation, we can achieve several desirable outcomes.
The Government is currently reviewing the Zimbabwe National Industrial Development Policy (2024–2030), whose major objective is to facilitate and promote the development of sustainable, innovative, inclusive and globally competitive industrial and commercial enterprises for improved consumer welfare and economic growth.
Emphasis will be put on ensuring that the policy drives the establishment of “future industries”; industries that have the capacity to provide goods and services to the global markets efficiently and effectively.
Zimbabwe is a very small economy yet with great potential to play in the big boys’ league, as it were. I see great potential in the strengthening and development of some critical value chains in the agriculture sector, including fertiliser production, which would result in import substitution, as well as export penetration and growth.
We have a diverse range of minerals and if we focus on enhanced research and value addition, this country could be a global supplier of cutting-edge products and technologies.
Innovation, research and development are, thus, of paramount importance in enhancing our competitiveness on the global stage.
Online Reporter