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Africa Moyo Senior Business Reporter
As the country celebrates its 39th Independence Day today, indigenous businesspeople are thankful to Government for crafting empowerment policies that allowed them to join the mainstream economy, which was previously a preserve for the former colonisers.

On attainment of Independence, Government was confronted with the burden of reconstituting and realigning national policies inherited from the Smith regime to match the new socio-political-economic dispensation.

The society in general and the economy in particular, was fraught with inequalities, with glaring disparities in the banking, education, agricultural, mining and manufacturing sectors.

Former Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) president and businessperson Mr Davison Norupiri told The Herald yesterday that numerous policies were “put in place by Government to allow black people to venture into businesses”.

“If you look at the latest policy on the ease of doing business, it’s not just for foreigners, but for black people as well, to ensure that the cost of registering and operating a company is reduced.

“When President Mnangagwa is addressing conferences, he always encourages local people to invest in their country, which indicates that Government does not only want foreign investors, but also local investors,” said Mr Norupiri.

Securico managing director Dr Divine Ndhlukula said:  “I think one of the best things that Government did was to give us a mindset shift that black people can own their own means of production.

“That’s why some of us took it upon ourselves and said well, it’s not just about going to work for some white man’s company or multinational company, but starting your own business and employing other people.

“So I think the mindset shift from what we were thinking when some of us went to school, such as being employed by Barclays Bank (now First Capital Bank) or whoever, was important.”

She added that since 1980, Government wanted indigenous black people to venture into business and rise to become top firms such as Unilever and Standard Chartered Bank, among others. “This is how some of us got into that mindset that I can start a business and grow and be like some of these multinationals that we wished to work for. That is the biggest fruit that I think we derived from Independence,” said Dr Ndhlukula. Prominent businessman-cum politician Mr Esau Mupfumi said redistributing land was the highlight of Government’s empowerment programmes since 1980.

“Large tracts of land were in the hands of a few whites, but blacks are now farm owners too. That is what we went to war for and as I speak, I am in South Africa where they are busy trying to reclaim their land; so our Government did very well on that score.

“In terms of mining, mines were reserved for whites, but they are now also owned by black people, while the education sector has brought global stars. When you meet someone speaking fluent English and doing technical jobs in the world, the person should be a Zimbabwean due to the free education policy. South Africa is trying to do that now,” said Mr Mupfumi.

He added that because of their education, some Zimbabweans are now being bought by whites to fight the gains of the liberation struggle, and economic development through begging for sanctions.

“Once sanctions are removed, you will see that industries will be transformed on the back of the knowledge acquired by citizens and President Mnangagwa’s ‘Zimbabwe is Open for Business’ mantra,” said Mr Mupfumi. Other policies adopted after Independence include Growth with Equity (1981), aimed at addressing social economic disparities inherited from colonialists.

Institutions such as the Affirmative Action Group (AAG), which was formed in 1994 by local entrepreneurs who had been frustrated by the Indigenous Business Development Centre (IBDC)’s delays in promoting indigenous black people, was central in helping citizens to participate in business. Mr Norupiri said the AAG also taught blacks to set up and manage companies, in a move that removed the “pre-Independence mentality of being workers”.

He added that the setting up of banks such as CBZ was also designed to empower blacks who struggled to obtain loans from foreign-owned banks.

“I am happy that Government keeps on opening banks to support various sections of our people such as youths, women and SMEs, so that they are empowered,” said Mr Norupiri.

Government recently set up EmpowerBank and the Zimbabwe Women’s Microfinance Bank (ZWMB), in a bid to help youths and women, respectively, who are marginalised by mainstream banks.

Some firms that have benefited from favourable Government policies include Kingdom Financial Holdings Limited, Econet, Boka Tobacco Auction Floors, Savanna Tobacco, Premier Tobacco, Securico and Telecel Zimbabwe.