The Sunday News
Ngonidzashe Chiutsi, Business Correspondent
THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) will this month embark on a three-day business visit to Botswana to explore business opportunities in that country, an official has said.
CZI president Mr Busisa Moyo said in an interview that the visit was meant to expose local companies to opportunities which they can explore in Botswana either through exports or forming joint ventures.
“We have an outward mission between 21 and 23 October in Botswana. We will be meeting our private sector counterparts to explore trade, investment and partnership opportunities and look at regional value chain linkages between Zimbabwe and Botswana manufacturing sectors,” said Mr Moyo.
He said Botswana has a number of business opportunities that local companies can explore.
“There are key attractions about Botswana and it is linked to Zimbabwe by a rail network and markets like Francistown are close to Zimbabwe. The country has a large Zimbabwe Diaspora community that is familiar with Zimbabwean brands and products,” said Mr Moyo, adding that the trip was being facilitated by the Botswana Ambassador to Zimbabwe Kenny Kapinga.
He said the Botswana economy was diversifying hence offered huge business opportunities to the Zimbabwe companies.
“Botswana has been working to diversify its economy and Zimbabwean industries can add value, participate and share in this process,” he said.
Mr Moyo said they will meet officials from a number of companies and potential investors in that country.
“We will be meeting with potential customers, investors, potential partners where factories can be built in Botswana and leverage synergies and market links for Zimbabwe market, access to Mozambique and Malawi where Zimbabwe is a key trade route for Botswana companies,” said Mr Moyo.
He said the trip to Botswana was one of the several trade missions that CZI has been embarking around the world.
“This (trip) is one of several outward missions as we seek market and technical alliances, partnerships, trade relationships, investors and relationships that enhance enterprise, because the best form of defence against poverty in a rising Africa is enterprise and trade,’’ he added.
Botswana is one of Zimbabwe’s trading partners and according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) data, Zimbabwe exports various goods that include wood and wood articles, wood charcoal, sulphur, earths and stone, plastering material and cement.
Other products exported also include pharmaceutical products, cattle feed, window and door frames, metal waste containers, groundnuts and seed.
Zimbabwe imports from Botswana a number of goods such as nickel and related items, mineral fuels, oils, bituminous substances and mineral waxes. Other imports also include cement, salt, coal, plastics, electrical supplies, beverages, bricks, household goods, building material, clothes and canned meat products. CZI’s planned trip comes at a time when local companies have been accused of not aggressively marketing their products to counter massive competition brought by goods from other countries.
Local companies are failing to venture into the export market due to a number of challenges resulting in a negative trade balance. According to a ZimTrade Export Manufacturing Capacity Survey for 2013 over 70 percent of local companies that have been exporting in the past 10 years have stopped due to challenges such as low production.
