The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Correspondent
FOR Zimbabwe to achieve its former glory of being the industrialisation hub in Southern Africa, it has to align and harmonise its industrial policy frameworks with those of the two regional economic commissions, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Southern Africa Development Committee (SADC), an official has said.
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Southern Africa sub-region’s inclusive industrialisation section’s economic affairs officer, Dr Fanwell Bokosi, said COMESA and SADC embrace inclusivity industrialisation as this is only way that Africa can develop, hence the need for Zimbabwe to align its policies with those of the regional economic commissions.
Dr Bokosi aired these sentiments on the sidelines of a Ministry of Industry and Commerce hosted workshop on the development of an action plan on the implementation of regional and national industrialisation policies to support industrial development in Zimbabwe.
The workshop which attracted dignitaries from neighbouring Zambia and Malawi was held at a local hotel over the weekend.
“It is not a coincidence that this workshop is being held in Zimbabwe on the day the world is celebrating Africa’s industrialisation. This is because Zimbabwe has been known in the past to be the leading contender in industrialisation and for various reasons.
“We are here to look at how Zimbabwe can pursue its industrialisation policy by looking at its national strategies, and policies and, harmonise them with the regional commissions’ policies.
“UNECA is not only looking at harmonisation, but action and implementation as well. We believe at the end, the relevant ministry and its stakeholders will come up with an action plan that can be implemented, and it is important that we move together in that direction,” he said
Dr Bokosi said other than harmonisation of policies, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has to work with the private sector, other ministries and SADC countries to speed up the industrialisation process.
In an interview, Economic Commission for Africa’s economic affairs officer, Dr Oliver Maponga, said industrialisation in the country should focus more on the trading of finished products as it is beneficial to all member states in Africa especially when looking at the context of the African continental free trade.
“Industrialisation is the root through which we can value add, beneficiate and produce competitive products that can penetrate, not only the continental market, but even the international market. Importantly, they ensure that intra-Africa trade which is currently very low can be improved through the trading of finished products,” he said.
Dr Maponga said the workshop was important to Africa as a whole as it gives citizens an opportunity to reflect and find ways on how best the continent could push the industrialisation agenda forward using its internal and external resources.
Director of Industrial Development in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Mr Dayford Nhema, said the objective of the workshop was to develop an action plan that would support industrial development in the country.
“The action plan will ensure that these activities are aligned with our regional and continental industrialisation agenda for Africa, as well as compliment Government’s Vision 2030 of an upper middle class economy as envisioned in the National Development Strategy (NDS1),” he said.
Mr Nhema further stated that the New Dispensation is seized with curbing de-industrialisation and attracting new investments and the generation of foreign currency through exports of high valued goods and services.
He reiterated the need for the country to align its industrialisation policies with those of COMESA and SADC, stating that to compliment and achieve this priority, Government introduced the Zimbabwe Industrial Development Policy (2019- 2023).
The policy is centred on developing and facilitating industrial leakages across all sectors of the economy, and is guided by the principles of value addition and beneficiation, export-led industrialisation, innovation, promotion of sustainable industrial development, gender mainstreaming, modernisation as well as upgrading of industrial equipment and machinery.
