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Manicaland Bureau
THE Government of Zimbabwe is drafting a bilateral agreement proposal to work with Mozambican authorities in implementing a One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) facility at Forbes Border Post just outside Mutare. Director for Industry and Commerce Mrs Constance Zhanje recently revealed that she had visited Forbes Border Post on a familiarisation tour with a team from the Border Efficiency Management Systems (BEMS) committee where they discovered that there was an increase in traffic passing through the border.

They also discovered that there was inadequate infrastructure to handle the high traffic volumes efficiently. The BEMS committee comprises Government ministries, parastatals, private sector and development partners with the responsibility of working towards addressing the challenges at the country’s border posts through the implementation of the OSBP concept.

“Agencies stationed at the border told us that there had been an increase in the volumes of traffic passing through the border and that the infrastructure was struggling to cope,” said Mrs Zhanje. “As you know, Mutare is key in facilitating trade between Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Of late, officials at the border have been processing more freight trucks, including transit traffic than before, hence the decision by Government to improve efficiencies at Forbes Border Post by implementing the OSBP concept.” Mrs Zhanje said the process would start as soon as the bilateral agreement between the two countries was signed, adding that drafting the agreement in English before translating it to Portuguese for the benefit of the Mozambican authorities would slacken the pace.

“The Government has also engaged Zambia on implementing another OSBP in Victoria Falls while similar plans were also unveiled for Plumtree Border Post last September,” said Mrs Zhanje. “Other border posts such as Beitbridge and Nyamapanda will soon follow. Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Home Affairs, International Organisation on Migration (IOM), Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Union (EU) and various other cooperating partners will be involved in the implementation of the OSBP concept at Forbes Border Post. Meanwhile, Manicaland industries have been urged to leverage on local products to boost capacity utilisation, which has remained below 50 percent for years, writes Rumbidzai Zinyuke.

A recent survey by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) shows that national capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector declined to 45,1 percent in 2017 from 47,4 percent recorded last year, as rising costs of production and foreign currency shortages, among other challenges continue to take a toll on the sector. Manicaland industries have not been spared by these challenges, which have seen many manufacturing companies downsizing or closing shop altogether. Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) deputy president for Manicaland, Mr Kenneth Saruchera said the revival of industries in the province should be a priority.

“Manicaland industry is not performing well, but we can address this situation as an industry,” he said. “We should really leverage on our products as a province to increase capacity utilisation.”

Mr Saruchera said Manicaland was known for its timber and horticulture, but these products had not been able to make an impact on output or revenue inflows for local businesses. The timber industry has mainly been affected by illegal settlers that have been causing havoc in the pine and eucalyptus plantations, destroying vast swathes of timber at enormous costs. Mr Saruchera said while this remained a problem in the industry, there were other avenues of growing the timber industry.

“Most of our timber is exported raw without adding value,” he said. “We should make sure we establish businesses that add value to our timber so that we realize more from our timber.” Mr Saruchera said horticulture could also be an avenue of growing the local industry.