Online Reporter
Mukudzei Chingwere in BULAWAYO
VICE President Dr Constantino Chiwenga has said innovations on display at the ongoing Zimbabwe International Trade Fair are not only encouraging, but also reflect the direction the country must take as it works towards an empowered upper middle-income economy anchored on industrialisation, productivity, and value addition.
The Vice President made the remarks during a tour of exhibition stands at the ZITF here yesterday, where he engaged exhibitors across multiple sectors and highlighted practical innovations that speak to Zimbabwe’s developmental priorities.
His assessment positioned the Fair as more than just a platform for business promotion, describing it as a space where solutions to national economic challenges are demonstrated through trade, manufacturing and enterprise development.
“The ones which I have seen are quite interesting and we are seeing a lot of improvements,” said VP Chiwenga.
“One we saw was the farm-to-table approach, where they are doing value addition by processing food on the farm from their produce. This is being done on the farm and this is what we want to see – farmers coming together, or those with the means to do it on their own.
“But it will be a good thing if a lot of farmers come together, process what they are producing, add value and send it straight to the table. It is cheap”.
The Vice President also expressed strong appreciation for the leather segment of the exhibition, commending enterprises that add value to animal hides and pointing to the broader development logic of such work.
He said leather producers and innovators need to be supported, noting that value creation is closely linked to the creation of decent work opportunities — an essential ingredient for an economy moving towards higher income categories.
“Then we have just seen the leather and leather products. I was so moved because when cattle are slaughtered, either in abattoirs or even at home, that leather must never be thrown away,” said VP Chiwenga.
“The products we have seen from the SME point of view are quite encouraging.
“I have seen the team from Ethiopia, which is far much more advanced. We want this integration, which has been done by the African Union, to combine all leather producers. And we are saying they must be supported in what they are doing. They are creating value and creating jobs”.
Beyond agriculture and agro-processing, VP Chiwenga directed attention to energy infrastructure and innovation, stressing the role of electricity reliability and efficiency in enabling industrial growth.
He commended ZESA for the technological improvements being rolled out, citing the gradual shift from copper to aluminium – with copper being relatively prone to vandalism and theft historically.
VP Chiwenga also pointed to further innovation in the form of security measures being implemented on transformers, which he said aim to prevent theft and end disruptions that undermine power supply and industrial activity.
“At ZESA, we want to see the developments that they have done. All along, they have been using a lot of copper, but now they are moving to aluminium.
“They are now putting security gadgets on their transformers, which is very good. What they are doing is quite interesting and quite a lot of innovation has been put in,” he said.
