Manufacturing sector lagging behind in value addition, CZI
MARTIN MULEYA
MUTARE-The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has expressed concern over the poor growth in the manufacturing industry, stating that sustainable economic growth cannot be anchored solely on primary products.
Addressing captains of industry in Mutare, CZI Chief Executive Officer Sekai Kuvarika highlighted the disconnection of policies in the manufacturing sector.
She emphasized that there should be a deliberate policy connection or economic symbiotic connection between the manufacturing, agriculture, and mining sectors to ensure balanced growth.
“Sustainable economic growth is not achieved through reliance on primary products alone,” Kuvarika said.
“The fact that we are seeing growth in primary industries while the manufacturing sector is stagnant is a cause for concern.”
Kuvarika also pointed out that the value chain is regressing with primary products, which is a worrying trend.
Regarding the use of the Zimbabwe Gold currency (ZIG), the CZI boss bemoaned the limited circulation of the new currency.
She explained that the current interbank market has a limited supply of United States Dollars, as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is the primary willing seller.
“ZwG circulation remains limited but what we have seen as industry is that there was one major policy change that happened in the introduction of the new monetary policy which was the abandonment of the forex auction and the introduction of the willing buyer willing seller market at the banks,” she said.
Kuvarika added that the conversion of outstanding bids from the previous forex auction into long-term paper, as mentioned at the policy level, has not been fully implemented.
In the interbank market we have at the moment, the supply of USD notes remains limited mainly because the willing seller is one that is Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ),” Kuvarika added.
Meanwhile, representatives from the Chamber of Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Manicaland, who spoke on condition of anonymity, highlighted the challenges faced by the sector in terms of compliance costs.
One of the business woman in small enterprise trading indicated that “SMEs are expected to meet the same requirements as large companies, despite their smaller business sizes, which is not motivating for enterprises to formalize their operations”.
The CZI, among its functions, aims to represent and lobby on behalf of its members to ensure that both the central and local governments enact laws that are conducive for optimal business operations.