The Sunday News
THERE is a silver lining on the economic landscape of Matabeleland and the country in general if what is happening on the ground and coming from the mouths of senior Government officials is anything to go by. While the people of Matabeleland have been huffing and puffing about lack of development with fingers pointed at the Government and other national development agents, it seems that will be a thing of the past.
A few days just before the by-elections, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa told a campaign rally in Bulawayo that the Government was prioritising the revival of the Cold Storage Company and the National Railways of Zimbabwe, parastatals which everyone agrees are key to the country’s economy. VP Mnangagwa revealed then that Zimbabwe had opened talks with Equatorial Guinea on the exportation of beef to that friendly country and also that talks on the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project between Zimbabwe and South Africa were in motion.
In today’s issue we carry another story that has serious economic significance on the Matabeleland region and the country, what with the pronouncement by the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) that the multi-million dollar tomato processing equipment that has been lying idle at its Balu Estates in Umguza District, Matabeleland North Province for over two decades will be installed soon in Esigodini in Matabeleland South Province.
Another plant of such nature would be put in place in Norton. A stock exchange-listed company has promised to invest in the projects. It is reported that there is great demand for tomatoes in Namibia’s fishing industry. Namibia is especially keen to find investors in tomato paste production to support its fish industry. It has a huge industry exporting fresh and canned fish and there is great demand for tomato paste we are told.
As if that is not enough on Friday the Hwange Colliery Company officially commissioned massive mining equipment worth $31,2 million sourced by the Government and its private partners. With the new equipment HCCL would now be able to produce up to 400 tonnes of coal per month from an average 200 tonnes. The acquisition of the new equipment is also expected to reduce production costs and ensure more exploitation of coal underground. Improved output will also see the company increasing supplies to the Zimbabwe Power Company for thermal power generation.
With such evidence on the ground we can say without blinking an eye that the country and Matabeleland in particular is bracing for economic benefits of great proportions. The revival of CSC and NRZ will see the City of Bulawayo rising from its slumber and that will turn around a number of downstream industries while providing employment opportunities for the people. Bulawayo and its surroundings would start breathing again. Victoria Falls and Bulawayo are also being earmarked for Special Economic Zone status – low tax industrial areas with flexible investment conditions to attract foreign investment.
As for the tomato project, the brainchild of the late Vice-President Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo, the announcement might not have come at a better time than a few days before the nation commemorates the passing on of this great nationalist who departed from this world on 1 July 1999. The project is a fulfilment of Dr Nkomo’s vision of seeing locals taking charge of the economic levers of the country.
Improved production at Hwange will result in the revival of other companies such as NRZ that will be kept busy transporting bulk coal while the MZWP would create the much-awaited green belt that would change the economic fortunes of Matabeleland and resolve the problematic Bulawayo water problems. With such developments on the horizon we take this opportunity to urge the powers that be that there is a need to embark on a sustained campaign to see that these projects are accomplished as the country moves forward in implementing the country’s economic blueprint, Zim Asset.
It is also an opportune time for the Government to demonstrate that it is leaving no stone unturned in its drive to revive the economy. With such developments we do not doubt that we are in for exciting times economically and indeed there is a silver lining on the horizon.
