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because of inadequate lines of credit. Some firms say they cannot export to this and that market because of sanctions.

This has been the story for the past decade or so. We are waiting to strike the iron when it becomes hot.
But we feel it is about time that we strike the iron ourselves until it is hot. That is very possible.

The last four years of consecutive growth have shown that it is possible to make things happen regardless of circumstances.
Ways to go round challenges can be created and results achieved if enough energy and commitment is applied.

We still believe in the US$100 billion economy by 2030 as proposed by Mr Kenias Mafukidze and endorsed by the Presidency. But this takes a lot of effort.
On Tuesday we carried an article on the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries new chief executive Mr Charles Msipa who lamented company closures and job losses being experienced in industry.

He said the economy was at a standstill, with industrial capacity utilisation dropping from 57 percent in 2011 to an average 40 percent in 2012. This is sad news by any measure.

The economy has been losing steam in the last two years with such challenges as funding, poor electricity and water supply and increased competition from imported products among others.

A tabulation of the challenges is well and dandy but the question that should be uppermost in our minds is: What are we doing as Zimbabweans to counter these negative forces?

We cannot continue to moan until production goes down to zero percent and the entire industry closes.
The shift should move more towards the crafting of strategies that neutralise the effects of these challenges. We see no point in holding talk-shows that merely highlight problems in the economy while little focus is given to solutions.

We need to establish how we can turn the lemons in our hands into lemonade.
Zimbabwe is richly endowed with natural resources and human capital, which can be exploited to grow the economy, subsequently capacitating industry and increasing domestic demand for goods and services.

CZI, being the largest and most influential business body, and its peers the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Mines and other representative bodies should be seized with seeking ways of increasing output so the economy can flourish.
We should see their teams running up and down pursuing strategies to circumvent any impediments in the economy.

How did the Asian Tigers do it? How is China becoming such a powerful force, what lessons can be learnt from India?
What is Japan’s work ethic. What makes Singapore tick and yet it has very few resources to write home about?

These are questions that industry and its partners should be seeking answers to and adapting them to our situation.
We need not spent too much time moaning about what should have been but we should expend energy creating the right environment that we yearn for.

Yes, we may talk about Buy Zimbabwe all we want but this should be preceded by enhanced production so that people can buy local and minimise imports.
As things stand, there is not enough being produced locally, while in some instances, local products are of poor quality customers are left with no choice but to look elsewhere to quench their thirst.

Today we even find some companies listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange failing to pay their workers.
Indeed, times are hard for business but what are we doing with whatever is at our disposable.

If a bank cannot give company A the US$100 000 it requires but affords US$20 000 . . . what this simply means is that the company must just make do with that US$20 000. Reduce its scale and progressively grow as things improve.

Players in the economy should work at creating the very conditions that they themselves nee d to exist.
Of course, we are only too aware that this is easier said than done but done they must be.

We find ourselves as Zimbabweans with very little choice but to make do with what is in our hands.
The good thing is that our efforts will be duly recognised in one way or the other. We cannot wait for the right conditions because these will never come if we keep our hands folded.

The painful reality is that no one outside Zimbabweans themselves will lose sleep over our failure to produce.
Many may commiserate but only in our face and yet behind the scenes they will be pursuing ways of taking advantage of our situations. We need home-grown solutions as has been repeatedly said.

We cannot sleep on the wheel and expect our economy to go forward.
As Zesa finds ways to improve electricity supplies, firms should come up with strategies that ensure they maximise on power during the times that it is available. If sanctions continue to affect market penetration on the global stage, why not become more aggressive in such countries as China and others who have remained friendly to us? Of course, they will not be doing us a favour but these will be normal business transactions that need a bit of aggression on our part.

If cheap clothes continue to be dumped here, let’s come up with regulations that make it a bit more difficult to access our markets. We need to be firing friendly fire to survive.
Economic growth figures that Zimbabwe has attained in the last four years are indicative of the potential resident in this economy if more effort is applied.

We need the willpower to make things better.
A case in point is that of Air Zimbabwe. All of a sudden the airline is churning out progressive news.

It has applied strategies such as the current package under which fares were reduced substantially to attract travellers.
Already the airline has had to increase flights on the domestic routes and yet only a few weeks ago planes were flying between Harare and Bulawayo and Victoria Falls almost empty. Its flight to Johannesburg has also witnessed a surge in passengers.

This goes to show how thinking outside the box can yield results and turn a situation for the better.
Although Airzim will initially register reduced profits, the strategies it has applied will certainly gain more market confidence while the improved service will see it regain its market share.

Confidence in the airline is growing and at this rate, the airline can easily retain its customers hence increased revenue.
Those businesses that are on the verge of collapse need to jettison the business-as-usual principle and apply “painful” strategies that will prove more rewarding in the medium to long term.

Presently the mood in the market is that we will see after the elections but in reality, elections or no elections, companies just need to abandon the rusty way of doing business and force changes through innovation.

The operating environment is certainly not fertile but things would not be as bad were we all to go the extra mile.
The investor interest in the economy and the softening stance by the International Monetary Fund and other multilateral lenders should tell us that the situation in this country is redeemable.

We all need to join the few that have realised that every problem carries with it an opportunity that we should cease.
If every sector and every stakeholder were to apply this principle, we would certainly make the iron hot ourselves and in no time we would all be singing all the way to the bank, literally.

In God I Trust!

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