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Zimbabwe needs to identify quick wins to rescue the economy and my visit to Beitbridge this week has been an eye opener in this regard.
In my book, quick wins are those things that we can quickly do to get the economy ticking again. These are short term solutions that can be implemented to produce results in the most efficient and shortest possible time.

The Beitbridge border post is one quick win that can benefit the Government, business and other users in an amazing way.

A tour around the post yesterday with our bureau chief Thupeyo  Muleya gave me an appreciation of how important and strategic this border is, not just to the local Beitbridge residents, but nationally and regionally too.

This port, which churns at least $60 million in revenue every month, accounts for 70 percent of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority’s income and Zimra accounts for 30 percent of Government’s revenue.

At least 15 000 haulage trucks and 35 000 passenger cars  pass through the border post every month. Just this past weekend, about 23 000 people crossed to border on either side.

These statistics illustrate how busy the port is while telling a big story pertaining to the importance that this post is to the economy.

The economy of this small town is naturally anchored on customs clearing, shipping and forwarding and the whole works to do with the entry and exit of goods.

It’s easy to notice that its big business around this area. However so much more appears lost to smuggling and other vices that the country has been exposed to.

Corruption keeps rearing its ugly head in business thus compromising its contribution to the overall economy.

Of course this has become almost monotonous. Corruption is no longer news in this country but the desire to fight it needs to be entrenched in our DNA as a people if we are to realise much from our resources.

My particular interest in this instance is on what needs to be done to improve business at the Beitbridge border post.

A lot of what needs to be done to improve the economy is usually taken for granted but it is the little things that have the greatest impact.

We often hear stories of how people and vehicles spend long hours in queues on either side of the border but a tour round the place just got me thinking that Zimra, as the leading agent at the border post, Immigration and other partners need to spruce up their systems to ensure a more efficient way of doing business to ensure smoother clearing.

As I was doing my little investigations and assessment I got to hear that the agents here use state of the art scanners and clearing systems but it is the manpower that is a challenge.

I was made to understand yesterday that sometimes only one person is allocated 200 cars to clear.

That is certainly not practical and opens the way for corruption because there is no way he can do a thorough search on 200 cars.

It effectively means that some cars are not necessarily searched but can easily pay their way through and I was also made to understand that each vehicle goes through at least 13 different kinds of searches.

While this may be necessary, there surely must be a way of ensuring that Zimra and other agents at the border collaborate to improve on this one.

Stories are told of how people entering or exiting the country via this border often use other means and “ports” of entry or exit to avoid the cumbersome processes.

But more glaring is the fact that the border post is understaffed.  Presently there are 248 Zimra officials and yet at least 336 people are required to man the post.

The deficit of about 88 people is quite evident and is something that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

I wondered why they would be so short-staffed in a country with rising unemployment levels. Could it have been a case of an improper distribution of manpower? But I was told that it has to do with insufficient accommodation.

“Many would love to come and work here but there is no accommodation. What is available is very expensive ($400 to $500) for a decent family which would on average take away half of their earnings,” said one resident.

This is an issue that Zimra should not take for granted. I am sure houses or flats can be built, given its financial muscle.

Something must just be done to ensure that the right number of people is employed at the border post.

The Government needs every penny it can get and the border post provides the bulk of funds to Zimra, which forwards most of it to Treasury.

So many capital projects have been put in abeyance due to inadequate resources hence sources of revenue such as this border post must not lose potential earnings on Zimra’s watch.

Something needs to be done fast, not only on this particular post but on all the border posts where Zimra is concerned.

On a more global scale, it is important that quick-wins are identified so that they can help grow the economy.

We note that Government, the private sector and all stakeholders are determined to put the economy back on track. Well and dandy but these desires must transform into visible action.

We desire to see improved efficiency at the Beitbridge border post and other centres of development to achieve the kind of economic growth that we so much anticipate.

President Mugabe last week returned from a successful trip to China that could jump start projects and programmes that have been stranded for a long time.

Such commitment from the highest level needs to be replicated down the chain to achieve the targets and objectives of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation.

All sectors of the economy can identify their respective quick wins and apply more energy in these; the sum total of such a concerted programme could even surprise the most optimistic in our midst.

It has been done in China, Singapore, Mauritius and other big economies with amazing results. It’s a strategy that knows no failure. It’s one that this economy so desperately needs.

In God I Trust.

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