by Ronney Zikhali

CAPACITY utilisation stands at 30 percent while in some industries it is still very low, the president of the Employers Council of Zimbabwe (EMCOZ) has said.
Addressing other business people at the just ended Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), Mr David Gorere, said more still needs to be done as capacity utilisation was still low and in the textile industry it still stood at 10 percent.
“We need to curb imports to give local industry a chance. The import export ratio is 20:1. The huge imports that we have the capacity to destroy our agriculture and upstream agriculture processing businesses,” he said.
He said there is a need to relook at the list of the 22 duty free imports.
Mr Gorere said the Zimbabwean economy needed external support, initial for it to recover but in the long run local industry must stand firm.
“Initially we need external support while in the medium to long term we are working on full recovery for thee industry,” he said.
The president of the employers’ council said there was a need to pay working and living wages for the employees.
“The social and economic stress on the populace is huge. If we over throttle income, we encourage theft and corruption. We have sacrificed workers so much. Very few economies grow without gross domestic demand. Such a scenario means turning the whole country into an Export Processing Zone (EPZ), which is not an easy task,” he said.
Mr Gorere said Zimbabwe must pursue an economic architecture that is underpinned by social responsibility.
“The question should be are we determined to empower our people through better incomes and living wages,” he said.
He said there is a need for political stability and what was happening in the political field at the moment was encouraging.
“Zimbabwe’s democracy is maturing in line with the Anglo-Saxon tradition with two power blocks existing while allowing for inter-play of other groups,” he said.
He said in Africa it compared well with old countries like Kenya and Ghana.
“The current transition dynamics must be nurtured. It looks like we are on the happy path to be a full democracy,” he said.
He said the country needed to encourage private sector participation for the economy to recover rapidly.
“Bureaucracy and pockets of interest groups must not be allowed to stand on the way of private sector,” he said.
Mr Gorere said there was also the need for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
“We need to access external markets on top of investment. The strong message must be that Zimbabwe is open for business through appropriate policy,” he said.
The president of EMCOZ said there is a need to take on corruption head on.
“We need results of hardworking women and men who will toil and sweat to bring results,” he said.
He said economic recovery was impossible without energy and currently the country was facing challenges in terms of electricity and coal.
“A nation that cannot access over 2 000 megawatts of electricity should not dream of industrialisation. We need to get to 6 000 megawatts or even 10 000 megawatts.
“We need an energy generation indaba. Load shedding is not a solution. It is an acknowledgement of a problem,” he said.