by Innocent Mujeri
President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday had an interface with the newly appointed Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) Board to appraise them on how they should operate in order to revive the economy.
The newly appointed ZIDA board is chaired by Mr Busisa Moyo, who is the Chief Executive Officer for United Refineries Limited. Other members are Dr Tobias Takavarasha, Mr Kenneth Richard Rupert Schofield, Dr Sylvia Janet Utete-Masango, Mrs Sithandile Ngwenya, Mrs Tariro Ndebele, Engineer Michael James Tumbare, Mrs Nancy Samuriwo and Mr Moosa Hanif Allana.
President Mnangagwa said, the ZIDA Board is the pillar that should anchor economic revival efforts and raise the country’s global business competitiveness, emphasising that there is life after COVID-19 pandemic.
“Admittedly, our country has entered a very difficult phase in which we have to fight the COVID-19 outbreak that is impacting negatively on economies the world over. However, there is life after COVID-19. In that respect, Government views the ZIDA Board as the pillar that will anchor economic revival and raise the country’s global business competitiveness,” said the President.
President Mnangagwa further said ZIDA should be at the forefront of programmes aimed at ensuring that the nation attains the objectives of Vision 2030 to create a prosperous, upper middle income and knowledge and technology-driven economy.
The President emphasised to the Board that economic transformation can only come through hard work and the adoption of international best practices.
The Head of State also said it was critical for the country to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in order to stimulate the economy and urged the Board to be innovative so as to attract FDI.
“Without doubt, one of the critical success factors for providing adequate resources for economic revival and transformation shall be the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment into our country. The region, and in fact the entire African continent, is already competing for that Foreign Direct Investment. Innovation is required for Zimbabwe to become the destination of choice for international capital, including from the Diaspora constituency into which so many nations are successfully tapping as they implement big national projects,” said President Mnangagwa.
The President reiterated to the Board that FDI alone cannot support the desired economic transformation. He further urged the Board to value local private sector investment and said linkages with private sector partners was important as it would drive economic development, create employment and enhance productivity.
According to President Mnangagwa, Government has committed itself to the One Stop Investment Services Centre concept, which has spurred economic revival and transformation in many countries.
The President further said ZIDA would be independent in its operations to enable it to have unfettered authority and responsibility to oversee the development of the requisite harmonised regulatory framework that will allow innovation and business engineering, to thrive in Zimbabwe.
The President said the main mandate for ZIDA Board was to help the nation to economically leapfrog other countries so that Zimbabwe could be counted among other economically stable nations.
President Mnangagwa also said sectors such as agriculture, mining, industry and tourism should adapt to new technologies and modernize, with focus on value addition and beneficiation in order to avoid over-reliance on the export of raw materials which, in essence, entails the export of our labour.
The President further said the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) launched in October 2018 was winding down, and Cabinet last week considered, a concept note for the National Development Strategy from 2021 to 2025. He said ZIDA would also participate in adding value in the development of the plan, especially in areas relating to Special Economic Zones, value addition and value chains in various sections of the economy.
The Head of State informed the Board that China had successfully implemented a Special Economic Zones model and urged ZIDA to draw lessons from the Asian country.
President Mnangagwa also said the Chinese agreed to work with Zimbabwe to set up a model for Special Economic Zones in Harare as part of knowledge and skills transfer.
ZIDA Board members are expected to put to good use, the wealth of experience and diversity of skills they possess to drive the socio-economic transformation of the country.
