The Sunday News
After winning the last general elections, the Zanu PF Government promised to better the lives of Zimbabwean citizens by following the guidelines of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim Asset).
“Zim Asset was crafted to achieve sustainable development and social equity anchored on indigenisation, empowerment and employment creation which will be largely propelled by the judicious exploitation of the country’s abundant human and natural resources,” reads part of the foreword by President Mugabe in the Zim Asset document.
The Government formulated Zim Asset “in pursuit of a new trajectory of accelerated economic growth and wealth creation”, and was set to be the bible on policy issues for five years until 2018. The Vision of the Plan is “Towards an Empowered Society and a Growing Economy”. The execution of the Plan was to be guided by the Mission: “To provide an enabling environment for sustainable economic empowerment and social transformation to the people of Zimbabwe”.
A lot has been said about the progress or lack of progress in as far as Zim Asset is concerned, depending on where one is standing, but what is reflecting on the ground is that there has been progress in trying to revive the economy, following a number of engagements made by Government, led by President Robert Mugabe, who has been meeting with a number of countries and high level business delegations who are keen to invest in the country.
To buttress that point, the Government announced last week that the country’s economy was transforming for the better, with a number of companies that had hit capacity utilisation of one percent bouncing back to greater production. In addition, the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) — an international body concerned with development issues across the continent — has lauded Zimbabwe’s economic resilience and homegrown transformation strategies.
We reported last week that in recent months, new manufacturing plants have been opened in different parts of the country, creating hundreds of jobs within short periods, and to maintain the momentum Government has lined up several production-stimulating strategies like curtailing imports and funding key companies. And on Independence Day, President Mugabe said the economy was recovering and “there has been a very comfortable resuscitation of companies that had closed or were on the brink of closure”.
He said this had preserved jobs and created new ones, as industrial production rebounded thanks to accelerated Zim Asset implementation under the 10-Point Economic Growth Plan. The plan includes a rapid results framework, revitalising agriculture and mining, value-addition and beneficiation, financial inclusion and infrastructure development and tourism promotion.
Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha in on record as saying many sectors were showing flickers of life, with several having reached 100 percent capacity utilisation, while some like Cairns foods had grown from 15 to 80 percent.
Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa also said fiscal measures to revive industry were bearing fruit, while ACBF director Dr Thomas Munthali said other African countries could learn much from Zimbabwe’s strategies.
What is evident is that the Government is busy working round the clock to turn around the economy, and the Finance Minister has also been engaging the international community so that funds are availed to various sectors of the economy. With peace and tranquility prevailing in the country, we believe better times are nigh, and all that is needed is for various stakeholders to pull in one direction and support government efforts to revive the economy.
The drought being experienced in the country and the entire Southern Africa region has not made things any easier, but the investment drive by Government is certain to bear fruit soon. More so, the Government has also put in measures to provide food relief so that no one starves.
