daniel chigunwe
Farirai Machivenyika and Ivan Zhakata
Captains of industry and other stakeholders must take advantage of the economic stability brought by the Second Republic’s policies to grow their operations and accelerate economic growth in the coming new year, Industry and Commerce Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu said in his Christmas message.
He said consumers should buy products made in Zimbabwe to boost the operations of local companies and consequently create more jobs.
In his statement, Minister Ndlovu saluted businesses, development partners, the private sector, ministry development agencies and consumers for their contributions to economic growth this year.
“The new year presents an opportunity to address challenges in industrial growth while optimising on the strong macro-economic stability we have experienced in the last few months to drive industrial growth going forward,” he said.
“I equally encourage your support for the inter-ministerial taskforce on business malpractice in combating counterfeiting and smuggling which enables us to give sanity to our business environment while enhancing consumer protection.
“As you celebrate this festive season, please support local initiatives through the Buy Zimbabwe and local content strategy,” Minister Ndlovu implored the nation.
His statement comes as Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe national chairman Mr Tafadzwa Musarara yesterday said the milling industry had supplied all essential grain-based products to the market for the festive season and that there will be no shortages.
Mr Musarara said despite 2024 being a challenging year marked by drought and grain imports, the milling sector rose to the occasion and delivered products that exceeded demand by 38,9 percent. The stock levels meant that prices would be stable as they could only be pushed up by profiteering retailers when there were shortages.
With all maize in stock reserved for Government food schemes, millers had to import their entire supply except for what they had contracted with the farmers.
Some of the products that have been supplied to the market were maize meal,rice, flour, salt and other essentials.
“The surplus supply has stabilised prices, making these commodities accessible to all, in both formal and informal retail outlets,” he said.
“Moving forward, we remain committed to supporting local agriculture through contract farming and exploring additional source markets to maintain affordability.”
Mr Musarara thanked the Government for its private sector-led approach to achieving national food security.
“The Government’s policies align with international best practices and have enabled us to adapt effectively to these challenges,” he said.
The Government has implemented a number of measures to stabilise the economy including strengthening the foreign exchange market that has seen the stability of the local currency, the ZiG, against the US dollar and other currencies, even on the parallel market.
A crackdown against smuggling through the country’s borders has also been launched, amid startling revelations the country may be losing an estimated US$1 billion annually in revenue through smuggling.
Through partnerships with private investors, a number of electricity generating projects, especially in the coal sector, have been initiated and are expected to ease power shortages the country has been experiencing this year by the end of next year. This will enable Zesa to release more electricity to the manufacturing sector.
Minister Ndlovu said they are focusing on strengthening collaboration with the private sector and invited all stakeholders to engage actively with the Ministry.
The Zimbabwe Industrial Reconstruction and Growth Plan 2024-2025 had been launched to promote industrial development as the country strives to be an upper-middle income society by 2030.
The plan seeks to address challenges hindering the growth of the manufacturing and commercial sectors, including issues such as competitiveness, the cost of doing business, promotion of links with small and medium enterprises, innovation and research.
The Ministry was allocated ZiG509 million for the implementation of the plan in the 2025 National Budget.
