Zimpapers Logo

Michael Tome
Business Reporter
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce will tomorrow convene a stakeholder meeting to validate the report on the development of local content thresholds for the fertiliser, packaging, and pharmaceutical sub-sectors.

The meeting, jointly organised with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), aims to support the National Development Strategy (NDS 1) thrust of supporting industrialisation and enhancement of local content threshold in the production of goods and commodities.

In support of the industrialisation drive, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is developing local content thresholds (LCTs) across some economic sectors, in accordance with the Zimbabwe National Industrial Development Policy (ZNIDP) which runs between 2019-2023.

Establishment of these thresholds aims to boost investment, value chain development, value addition, and beneficiation in line with the NDS 1.

According to the ministry, the meeting will also assess the feasibility of proposed thresholds in the three sectors of the economy and possibly re-calibrate them to be more feasible to local conditions.

The pharmaceutical sector contributes about 12 percent of local medicines consumed in the country with the rest being imported, hence localisation of local thresholds present huge opportunities for substantial import substitution as well as reducing risks of supply chain disruptions for essential medicines.

Also, the meeting will explore ways of enhancing the domestication of fertiliser production given Zimbabwe’s background as an agro-economy which necessitates the establishment of a robust fertiliser industry to support farming activities.

As such, the emergency of fertiliser shortages created mostly by the geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe has triggered the need for the domestication of the commodity to ensure supply reliability and price stability in line with the country’s aspirations towards food security.

“The establishment of these thresholds will boost investment, value chain development, value addition, and beneficiation in line with the National Development Strategy (NDS) 1 (2021-2025).

“Emphasis will be on the procurement of local products and inputs based on specific metrics to support industrial development and intensify economic sector linkages, It is thus prudent for Zimbabwe to be self-sufficient in these products,” said the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in the event’s concept note.

Participants to the meeting will be drawn from Government, the private sector, academic and research organizations.

Ministries of Industry and Commerce, Finance and Economic Development, Lands, Agriculture, Water, and Rural Resettlement and the Women, Gender, and Small and Medium Enterprises will also participate at the event.

The private sector will be drawn from Business Member Organizations (BMOs) including the Zimbabwe Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), SMEs Association, Buy Zimbabwe, UN Agencies (UNIDO, ILO) and companies from the three sectors. In order to develop local content thresholds for the three subsectors, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce requested for technical support from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa (SRO-SA) to engage a consultant to anchor the process and draft the thresholds in a fully consultative manner which captures the views of various stakeholders along the value chains. The meeting is to be attended by key stakeholders in the identified sub-sectors, for recommendations.