7 steps Mnangagwa intends to take to industrialise Zimbabwe

This is just one example, but one pointing to immense industrialisation possibilities we have in the countryside, closer to sources of raw materials and other inputs.

FIRST, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce must speedily work together with all Ministers of State, ZIDA and ZIMTRADE to map value chains province by province for consideration by Government as a matter of urgency.

SECOND, preferably in the Mid-Term Budget Review, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development must work on operationalising the much-stalled Sovereign Wealth Fund, setting up Venture Capital Fund and, in consultation with Ministries of Industry and Commerce and that of Labour and Social Welfare, advise Government on instruments and agencies already in place which require refocusing and realignment in readiness for funding and implementation of rural industrialisation.

THIRD, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and related agencies, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to develop incentives for both local and foreign investors who elect to invest in value chains for rural areas, and in sectors manufacturing basic commodities, to bring about the much-needed competition.

FOURTH, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development must work with both Finance and Economic Development and Industry and Commerce to locate SMEs within mapped rural value chains and strategic areas manufacturing basics for the national market.

FIFTH, Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development must conduct skills needs analyses to underpin mapped value chains for training, technology development through innovation hubs, as well as the identification of supply markets for appropriate machinery to power rural industrialisation.

Ministries of Finance and Industry should facilitate acquisition of capital goods required for mapped value chains, using resources from the Venture Capital Fund and other instruments.

SIXTH, The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development must participate in all these activity areas, including triggering agricultural activities which support mapped value chains.

SEVENTH AND LAST, in this new thrust which aims to grow our production base both for national and export markets, partnerships which empower Zimbabweans, principally our farmers, our youths, graduates and our women, must be encouraged.

All in all, training in entrepreneurship, as well as venture capital partnerships in start-ups, must be intensified.

The facilities we have put in place, or envisage must go beyond reinforcing imperfections in the current economic set-up; they must challenge the reigning business orthodoxy to create new realities. Whatever challenges we face, whether from global shocks or from local imbalances, must now draw the best out of us as a people, indeed spur us to new horizons where we become the investors we have been waiting for.

Yes, where we become the jobs we have been hunting for!

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