Zimbabwe has ‘green pastures’: Minister
CONTRARY to the notion that lucrative job opportunities are found in the diaspora, Bulawayo
Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister, Judith Ncube, says Zimbabwe has the “green pastures”
and what is needed is for locals to irrigate them by exploiting the abundant domestic business
opportunities.
Citing the comprehensive ease of doing business reforms ushered in by the Second Republic led by
President Mnangagwa and the numerous investment opportunities across different sectors of the
economy, the minister implored all Zimbabweans to rally behind the Government in resuscitating
the economy.
She said the supportive policies were already impacting positively on the economy with more
transformative prospects in the short to medium-term in line with the National Development
Strategy (NDS1) and the ultimate upper middle-income economy vision by 2030.
In a speech read on her behalf by the director of finance, administration and human resource, Mr
Morres Mbewe, during the Business Economic Empowerment Federation (BEEF) event in
Bulawayo last Friday, Minister Ncube said many people were looking for greener pastures that
could be found and developed at home.
Zimbabwe is endowed with many opportunities and what is needed is the willingness to work and
exploit them, she added.
“We live at a time when everyone seems to be looking west for ‘greener pastures’. However, what
makes the pastures green is that they are irrigated.
“We can only make our economy appealing to the rest of the world by first believing in it
ourselves,” said Minister Ncube.
“There are many endowments in our country and those who are willing to work, the opportunities
are limitless. Let us not be experts in praising other people’s nations while criticising our own
ngoba ilizwe lakhiwa ngabaninilo.”
Through the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (Zida), she said the Government has
availed multiple investment possibilities that have the ability to totally transform and change
Zimbabwe’s economic landscape.
Zimbabwe Investment Development Authority (Zida)
“All that is required are business individuals like yourselves who put their minds together to seize
those opportunities,” she said.
Speaking at the same event, Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister, Raj Modi, said the
Government appreciates the role played by the private sector and commended BEEF for bridging
the gap between State and the business community.
To ensure effective development of the value chains, he said the process should be private sectordriven, while the Government’s central role will be creation of an enabling policy regulatory
environment and building of industrial infrastructure.
“The ministry hereby acknowledges the role you are playing in addressing economic empowerment
challenges faced by businesspeople,” said Deputy Minister Modi.
“The BEEF’s theme for this year: ‘Rebuilding Value Chains for Sustainable Development’ resonates
well with the ministry’s policy thrust under NDS1, as well as under the Zimbabwe National
Industrial Development Policy.”
As part of efforts to promote economic growth the Government has developed an inclusive
industrialisation strategy, which is anchored on moving the economy up through value chains and
substituting imports. The strategy prioritises 10 key value chains, which are soya bean, cotton,
sugar, dairy, leather, fertiliser, packaging, pharmaceuticals, bus and truck and iron and steel. — The Chronicle
