The Sunday News
Roberta Katunga, Senior Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwean economy needs an overhaul as it is more beneficial to create a new economic dispensation than recreate the old one as conditions have changed, captains of industry said.
Buy Zimbabwe board of trustees vice-chairperson Mr Oswell Binha said the country needs an urgent return to the economic drawing board to redesign a new macro-economic framework including an industrial dispensation anchored on what is at hand and reality on the ground.
“The economy of 1997 and that of 2016 are very different. It is easier and more beneficial to create a new economic dispensation than to try to recreate the old one as conditions have changed fundamentally. We need a new breed of visionary thinkers, planners and entrepreneurs that are willing to start from scratch and build the Zimbabwean economic phoenix based on present day realities,” said Mr Binha.
Mr Binha said in the past, the country’s economy was hinged on the Big Five industrial base, namely Ziscosteel, Hwange Colliery, National Railways of Zimbabwe, Sable Chemicals and Clay Products which a number of towns depended on for survival.
He said these companies had fallen on difficult times with the livelihoods of the people there suffering.
“The legendary industrial base of the country was hinged on Ziscosteel, major companies such as Hwange Colliery, Zesa, NRZ, Sable Chemicals, Clay Products, the numerous foundries, metal and engineering works dotted all over the country, the towns and cities of Redcliff, Bulawayo and Kwekwe depended on to a great deal on this integrated steel works for their very survival.
They have fallen on very hard times since the cessation of operations at Zisco,” said Mr Binha.
Outlining some of the challenges the economy was facing, Mr Binha said to raise growth from the medium term trend of one to two percent, Zimbabwe would need to correct key macro-economic balances.
He said, today, of the 12 million people in Zimbabwe, only 480 000 were formally employed, down from 3,6 million in 2003.
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) Matabeleland Chamber vice-president Mr Crispen Mugova concurred with Mr Binha saying it was imperative to take into account the changing times and all the things that have changed.
Mr Mugova said in the past the agriculture sector used to supply about 60 percent of raw materials but with climate change, cropping seasons have shifted and certain produce that was associated with particular regions is no longer the case.
“We need to take into account the prevailing environment and remodel our economy to suit the reality on the ground. In our factories, all machines are outdated and we need new technology, better ways of processing and manufacturing and there is need to be more innovative,” said Mr Mugova.
He said administratively it was also important to restructure policies that are now old and irrelevant and align them with new macro-economic frameworks.
@robertakatunga
