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Local goods on display at the launch of Buy Zimbabwe Campaign this year

Business reporter
Zimbabweans have been called upon to look beyond pricing issues in relation to local products and focus on the long term benefits of buying local. The call was made by the Buy Zimbabwe team during the inaugural Buy Zimbabwe community engagement in Sunningdale recently.

The participants were told that buying local would help local industries to fully recover, which will promote increased production and availability of locally produced goods and ultimately lead to lower prices for locally produced goods. Many participants indicated that they have a strong desire to support local participants and understand the importance of doing so but were forced by their financial circumstances to opt for cheaper foreign imports.

Buy Zimbabwe economist Ms Vandudzai Zirebwa said the general complaint was that local products are being sold at higher prices “The inaugural meeting proved that there is indeed an information gap between business and consumers. It was apparent that the gap can be narrowed easily through open dialogue,” Ms Zirebwa added

The discussion which was moderated by popular talk show host Mrs Rebecca Chisamba who gave community members the opportunity to dissect the various issues they had with local products, key among them prices. Buy Zimbabwe launched the campaign after realising that many members of the society were not fully aware of the impact that a simple purchasing decision can have on job creation and ultimately economic growth.

“It was observed that for many consumers, purchasing patterns were influenced by perception. Many perceive foreign products to be of better quality and better value which is not necessarily true,” Ms Zirebwa said in a press release