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Mr Sileya

Business Reporter
THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, the representative body of industry, is expected to submit to Government proposals on the implementation on value chains in line with the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap.

The move is in line with the industrialists’ resolutions made at the CZI annual congress last month.

The dossier to be presented to Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha is expected to feed into the operationalisation of the SADC Industrialisation Agenda and Roadmap 2015-2063 by Zimbabwe.

The CZI proposals also include implementing the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation value chains model as a tool for achieving competitiveness.

CZI chief executive officer Mr Clifford Sileya said in a telephone interview that the document is likely to be submitted this week following its discussion by the organisation’s national council on Thursday.

“The national council met yesterday (Thursday) and worked on the document. The President (Busisa Moyo) will be in town on Monday (today) and the document is likely to be submitted to the Minister this week,” said Mr Sileya.

“It talks on value chains in the area of the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap.”

The regional bloc is in the process of developing an Action Plan for the Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063.

The strategy, an attempt by SADC to sweat the region’s diverse natural resources, identifies three interdependent strategic pillars; industrialisation as champion of economic transformation; enhanced competitiveness; and deeper regional integration.

The CZI has already developed 18 value chains which are contained in a book titled Value Chains Mapping- Mapping of Value Chains in Zimbabwe for Economic Development.

The business representative body will identify about four from the 18 value chains to focus on in line with the UNIDO model.

These include cotton-to-clothing value chain, beef-to-leather value chain, juice-to-can, horticultural farm-to-juice value chain, fish-to-fork value chain, asbestos-roofing-construction, gold and diamond-jewellery-ornaments, chrome ore-chromium-chrome plated goods, tobacco-cigarette manufacture, among others.

CZI wants active participation on the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap.

“The basis for that comment is that we do not want to be innocent by-standers as SADC implements a regional industrialisation and we note there seems to be a gap between SADC private sector initiative and country industrialisation.

“So there has to be some kind of link between Zimbabwe private sector and SADC private sector desk so that we work together,” CZI vice president Ms Tracy Mutaviri said while presenting draft resolutions at the close of the congress