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Business Reporter

Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Sekai Nzenza is expected to headline the second edition of the year end Business Dinner and Awards to be held in Harare on December 1.

Her Tourism and Hospitality Industry counterpart, Mangaliso Ndlovu, is also expected to be among the guests at the ceremony.

He will lead a discussion on tools to protect the tourism and hospitality sector from future pandemics, after the sector was one of the hardest hit by Covid-19.

The event will recognise excellence across sectors during the trying period from  2020, stretching into 2021, where businesses battled the negative effects of Covid-19 while coming up with innovations to remain relevant in the economy.

Financial advisory firm- Global Renaissance Investments (GRI) will host the awards dinner.

The event will run under the theme “Value addition to Compete in the Africa Free Trade Zone and Promoting Exports in 2022 and Beyond.”

A panel discussion will also deliberate on policies required to boost value added products in the country at a time the country is looking at an economic uptick driven by the National Development Strategy (NDS1) initiatives that should propel Zimbabwe towards upper middle income economy status by 2030.

GRI chief executive Ngoni Dzurutwe said the business dinner and awards event, now in its second year running also comes at a time local businesses are looking at ways enhancing competitiveness to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“Given that the intra Africa free trade is now running, Zimbabwe should implement such policies to deter being the net importer from other countries.

“Government should strike down incentives to the value adding companies so as to increase our gross domestic product and foreign currency earnings in the long run.

“We need to take a leaf from our neighbours across the Limpopo River, they export mostly value added goods and that is why they are Africa’s power house.

“Look at China as well. They have become a world power house by exporting value-added products cheaply. This is what we envisage as Zimbabwe to be one day in the Bricks community for starters,” he said.

Other topics that will be discussed include promoting and enhancing value addition as well as the risks of not adding our raw materials — agriculture and minerals in light of the AfCFTA.

Other key panellists are Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (ZIDA) chairman Mr Busisa Moyo, economist Mr Eddie Cross and Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe president Ms Winnie Muchanyuka.

Representatives from Embassies of Canada and Namibia are also scheduled to participate as they explore potential for Zimbabwe.