The Sunday News
YESTERDAY, the country celebrated 35 years after attaining Independence following a bitter war which resulted in many people losing their lives.
The focus over the 35 years has been to improve people’s lives and the economy has played a big part in shaping what the country is today.
It has not been easy especially the post new millennium period with politics diluting some of the economic gains that were already in motion in the first 20 years of independence.
The situation was worsened when Western countries poked their nose into our internal affairs initiating sanctions, at the instigation of some local opposition parties, further derailing the country’s economic revolution.
As a country and as a people we have soldiered on amid all these challenges.
Some companies have scaled down production while others have completely shut down throwing thousands onto the streets.
Fortunately or out of innovation some of those who were rendered jobless have found a new lease of life in setting up small businesses which have anchored many lives for many families in the past few years.
Such a scenario has attracted some disgruntlement with some people quick to point out that this was a clear sign of a struggling economy.
It might be true to some extent but it has brought a new dimension on the need for the country to refocus its journey towards economic Canaan.
We are a country that somehow has resisted change from the traditional thinking of looking at huge corporates as a measure of the general economy.
We need to refocus on what we need to achieve and how to do it and it is such platforms like the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair which must provide the foundation for economic transformation.
At the end of this month, Bulawayo once again plays host to the annual ZITF bringing both politicians and the business community to interact and map a way forward.
On the surface the assumption is that this is the stage to create business linkages, networking and also exhibit showing both local and international visitors what sort of products are produced in the country and what products and services the country can also access from those international exhibitors who are coming for the event.
This has been happening over the years but it is time we change focus and try to use such events to identify and build our strengths.
Thirty-five years is a long time and from what the country went through during the time, it is time to identify our strength and ensure that such sectors are the ones which we try to build on.
It is even easy now because for the past 35 years we have gone through different economic and political phases.
We have seen the good days and also the bad days and as a country we are now a hardened lot.
A people who have survived many economic battles, we can now easily build on the strength to become a power house again. This is where the ZITF must play an important role.
It must transform from being a week-long exhibition into a strong foundation on which those businesses that have shown potential are nurtured and fertilised to grow.
Some of the companies in potential areas like in mining are still small and struggling although they are sitting on huge mineral deposits.
Most farmers are still trying to find their feet after they were allocated land a few years ago. It is bad for our companies to import agriculture-related raw materials like soya beans when we can support the farmers to produce these products.
These are some of the areas the ZITF platform has to give priority to, to ensure that small companies are given the right ingredients to grow and become tomorrow’s big companies and employers.
We have tended to measure the economy and even the success of such events like ZITF according to how the big established companies are performing but it is all clear that most of them are struggling.
In fact the majority of these companies have reached the ceiling and it might not be worth spending time focusing on dying horses.
We can tell that because of technological advances some of these big companies will never recover at all especially as they are still stuck in history always trying to revive antiquated machinery which has been overtaken by events.
For example do we really still need money to revive machines that used to make napkins at companies like Merlin when the whole world has moved to the use of diapers.
Do we really need to spend energy crying about refurbishing locomotives at NRZ most whose engines have outlived their lifespan? I do not think so.
It is time to focus on those promising companies which I am sure we have certainly identified in the 35 years.
We need to look at the areas where we have the competitive advantage. Areas which we know most of our competitors are struggling.
Coming to the example of nappies, we can tell that this is an industry that we have left behind and it’s okay sometimes to just admit and rely on imports after all we are part of the global village.
We can spend our energy and the little money we can get on those areas we have the advantage especially compared to countries around us.
We have tried with tobacco where buyers some from as far as China and Brazil queue for our crop. This shows that with proper support we can actually build an economy around this crop.
There are a number of support companies that can actually grow out of the tobacco revolution.
We have many other areas like distinct tourism sites which no other country has. These are the areas we must focus on.
Some countries have adopted the concept. Countries with oil have concentrated on that product only and have grown their economies around that.
They are not jumping from one sector to another but putting maximum effort on those sectors they are strong at.
We can do the same using ZITF to ensure that we are in the right track and we are pursuing the right sectors that we are also strong at.
Feedback
To call a spade a spade life is becoming bitter to people who want to be spoon fed. The dark part of it being the fact that our grandparents have instilled the mentality of becoming managers in big companies, not knowing that these companies started as street vendors. To add insult to injury, one of my neighbours almost killed his daughter who only passed Fashion and Fabrics at Ordinary Level. Did her father know that by developing from that single subject, her daughter could be a company owner? I think this disease of dependency can be eliminated, only if extensive campaigns are done, teaching people to be broad minded than being blinkered by meagre salaries from employers — Gift Mudenda 0775238962
Greetings . . . I found the article entitled “born frees and the economic matrix” really inspiring but as much as starting own business is good startup capital is hard to come by — 0775168267
Hie bro, I saw your Sunday column. It is great and highly interesting but eeish!!!. I wrong somewhere — 0737178169
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