7 steps Mnangagwa intends to take to industrialise Zimbabwe

There is wanton indiscipline and defiance bred by the unchallenged sway which some corporates, both in the real economy and the financial sector, have on the market.

That sway comes with entrenched monopolies and monopolistic malpractices. It doesn’t matter which sector you look at: we are a one-enterprise, all-key-commodities producing monopolies dictating to the national markets.

This imperfect market has now gone mad, as laws of supply and demand are flagrantly suspended by a few producers who act singly or in concert, often with the blessings of our banks.

They now dominate entire value chains, reducing the rest of us to hapless price-takers. They even wield veto power on monetary policy and choices of currency for daily trade.

Those of us holding elective office watch with alarm as these few, all-powerful corporates flout national laws, sneering at decisions of regulatory national institutions, and even try their hand on national politics. This we cannot allow.

The time has now come to initiate and promote competition in our economy.

This requires a combination of laws and certain investment instruments and decisions which are State-led.

We must now show readiness to fully support investments aimed at breaking monopolistic tendencies in this economy.

That means growing many producers of key commodities; that means multiplying actors in any one sector and sub-sector, for genuine competition which benefits the consumer.

Therein comes our farmers, young entrepreneurs and others already in business who might want to diversify their portfolios.

In all this new thrust, we must show a partiality for rural industrial investments, particularly at growth points which support core primary activities in any one province.

Before long, we should see wisps of industrial smoke in the countryside, including on farms where raw materials are produced.

Last week, I saw this at Nyabira where a bioceutical plant has been built, with the assistance of Swiss investors.

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