Buy Zimbabwe Week Campaign to encourage preference of local products

THE Buy Zimbabwe initiative will embark on a week-long campaign to lobby for the production and preference of local products and ensure that festive season incomes are utilised to boost national sales and reduce imports.

The initiative runs under the theme ‘Defend and grow Zimbabwean products’ from 27 November to 1 December 2023.

In a statement on Wednesday, Buy Zimbabwe’s general Manager Mr Alois Burutsa said the week would be a period of intense activity and lobbying for the production and preference of local products.

“It will be characterised by road shows to selected leading wholesale and retail outlets accompanied by on-site brand activations to create top-of-mind awareness for local products,” he said.

Mr Burutsa said during the campaign, brand ambassadors will be stationed at outlets in major cities and towns where they will explain the benefits of buying locally produced goods and help customers identify local brands with the Buy Zimbabwe insignia.

“The main objective is to ensure that festive season incomes are utilised to boost national sales and reduce imported products.”

The participating wholesalers and retailers include N Richards, Gain Cash and Carry, Mahomed Mussa, Pick and Pay, Spar, OK Zimbabwe, TV Sales and Home, Teecherz Home and Office and Bata.

“To promote local content, Buy Zimbabwe has penned partnerships with the Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) and the Quality Management Institute of Zimbabwe.

“We have developed a verifiable and credible local content certification system which we are confident can assist various procurement agencies in Zimbabwe to identify products and organisations with defined local content requirements.”

Mr Burutsa urged consumers to continue preferring local products to ensure the inevitability of the attainment of upper-middle-income status by 2030.

“As Buy Zimbabwe, we remain committed to the production, preference, and promotion of locally produced goods and services to create jobs, wealth, and pride,” he added.

Since 2011 Buy Zimbabwe has been spearheading a campaign to promote local procurement and consumption of locally produced goods.

Government has in the past said the Buy Zimbabwe campaign to buy local products was at the center of the national development matrix of achieving Vision 2030.chronicles