EDITORIAL COMMENT : 2017: Time to set economy on growth path

When President Mugabe opened Parliament, he said 13 pieces of legislation with a bearing on investment into the country would be amended. Critical to note, though, is that the process needs to be done in order of priorities.

Given the urgent need for investment, especially foreign, to drive long overdue recovery of the economy to levels that match Zimbabwe’s potential; indigenisation is one critical piece of legislation Government needs to bring finality on.

Bringing finality to the indigenisation issue through effecting appropriate amendments to the relevant legislation will go a long way in attracting the much-needed foreign direct investment and setting the economy on a sustainable growth path.

The remarks by the President provided reassuring comfort to investors for long unnerved by innumerable internal issues relating to suitability of Zimbabwe as a destination for investment.

As such, it is our fervent hope indigenisation will be prioritised.

More importantly, there is need to support President Mugabe’s vision, which saw him stepping in to clear the confusion that had engulfed the process and Government policy on indigenisation and empowerment, abused by some for selfish gains.

The debate on indigenisation had been raging for a long time and had created unnecessary tension in business when the economic situation is dire and constrained.

Addressing lingering issues regarding indigenisation will be a huge step towards making ongoing reforms to the ease of doing business conditions a success.

President Mugabe’s statement brought sobriety and a pragmatic tone to implementation, leaning towards empowerment supported by most Zimbabweans, as empowerment has more direct impact on the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans.

According to the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, the sobriety means private sector can now focus on economic development, employment creation, inclusive value chains that benefit communities and attracting foreign direct investment.

Zimbabwe cannot afford any policy that in anyway increases cost of doing business.

We call upon all responsible stakeholders to expedite the process of finalising legislative amendments on indigenisation in accordance with His Excellence President Mugabe’s clarification, which brought palpable sanity to the blanket of confusion.

Further, it is unfortunate that foreign companies in Zimbabwe have also taken advantage of the situation regarding the issue of indigenisation to just “park” the issue and continue to buy time, as if Government no longer wants to pursue the policy.

Unbeknown to many, indigenisation is not for the benefit of the Government, which is only driving a process of ensuring participation of indigenous people in the mainstream economy, on behalf of millions who elected the current leadership.

The tranquillity brought about by the President’s clarification on the issue resulted in many agreed and signed empowerment deals, including community ownership trusts meant to benefit the generality of indigenous people, being consigned to the shelves.

Without hesitation, we call upon Government and the legislature to swiftly move away from the long-standing and retrogressive tag of being specialists in coming up with brilliant policy proposals, but always coming short on the implementation aspect.

As such, we believe that Government and without raising the dust, needs to be firm on foreign companies following the rule book to fulfil dictates of the policy and law, but this can only happen if the outstanding legislative amendments are finalised.

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