Selected value chains to drive industrial growth

THE Government is working on promoting selected value chains to realise the country’s industrialisation agenda, Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Sekai Nzenza has said.

In line with provisions of the Zimbabwe National Industrial Development Policy (ZNIDP), targeted value chains include pharmaceuticals, leather, cotton to clothing, dairy sector, fertiliser industry, bus and trucks manufacturing.

Zimbabwe’s exports are dominated by semi-processed gold, raw tobacco, ferroalloys, nickel ore, and diamonds translating to minimal earnings to the fiscal authorities.

As such, there remains a need to enhance the number of local value chains in the local industry, which will translate to better-valued exports.

Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube is on record saying the Government will continue to extend incentives to local industry to drive domestication of value chains while diversifying the export revenue basket.

“Under the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS) Government is promoting a number of value chains including pharmaceutical, leather, and cotton to clothing, dairy feritiliser, and bus and trucks production among others to achieve high, accelerated, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth as well as socio-economic transformation
and development,” said Minister Nzenza at a recent event hosted by the Confederation of
Industries (CZI).

“The private sector is at the centre of all these programs in line with the Zimbabwe National Industrial Development Policy (ZNIDP) which advocates for private sector-led growth,” he added.

The Treasury ‘s long-term plan is to fully capitalise the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) so that the State entity starts to equip strategic areas that will contribute to the development of local value chains.

The idea is to come up with value-added exports that fetch better prices on the export markets compared to export of raw products, which industrialisation seeks to achieve.

Through (NDS1), the Government is focussed on the provision of incentives aimed at improving the appetite to enhance the value addition of products for export markets.

The initiative envisages growing the export basket and stimulating production and beneficiating commodities from Zimbabwe; including agricultural produce.

Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector increased its contribution to gross domestic product by almost 3 percent to 18,43 in 2020, making the sector the second most critical sector in terms of contribution to GDP after the wholesale and retail trade sectors, which accounted for 19,24 percent.-The Herald