By Bernard Mutambudzi.

Government has set timeframes for the partial privatization of some of the State-owned enterprises (SOEs) which would enable them to fully contribute towards economic development. The timeframes range from 12 to 24 months.

The partial privatization of TelOne, NetOne and Telecel will take 12 to 24 months to complete. Others include Petrotrade, Zimpost, Peoples Own Saving Bank (POSB), Zimbabwe Mining and Development Company (ZMDC), Infrastructural Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) and Road Motor Services (RMS)

The Government wholly owns TelOne and NetOne while it holds a 60% stake in Telecel.

Under the State enterprise reform exercise, NetOne, TelOne, POSB, IDBZ and Agribank will be partially privatized along with subsidiaries of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) which include Zim Glass, Allied Insurance, Surface Investments, Zimbabwe Grain Bag, Ginhole Investments, Chemplex Corporation, Deven Engineering and G & W Minerals.

In a bid to do away with duplication role, the Government will merge Zarnet, Powertel and Africom to create one company while the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) will be combined to create one telecommunication giant.

TelOne is the country's incumbent fixed line operator, while NetOne competes with Econet Wireless and State-owned Telecel in the mobile market

Other measures targeted in the roadmap to stabilize the economy and set it on a path of sustainable growth include crowding the private sector to support Government programmes and using the auction system for Treasury Bills to raise funding for public programmes.