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Business Reporter
THE Bulawayo City Council has resolved to turn its disused beergardens into factory shops to accommodate small businesses as it moves to tackle ballooning unemployment in the wake of company closures.
The council met the city’s business community yesterday where participants expressed concern over the demise of the city’s industry and escalating joblessness.

Acting Town Clerk Sikhangele Zhou said the informal sector had become home to thousands of jobless residents hence council was committed to support its growth.

“We are trying to create more space for the informal sector realising the problem of employment is related to the macro-economic environment, which is beyond council,” said Zhou.

“We have several disused beergardens and seeing that we cannot run them profitably, we’re turning them into small factories for people who want to conduct small-scale businesses such as welding, carpentry and vending.”

She said the move would accommodate scores of small businesses who operate in the open and increase business activity in the city.

Bulawayo Mayor Councillor Martin Moyo called for collective efforts towards revamping the city’s industry.

He said the council’s development department in liaison with the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) had hosted several foreign delegates and conducted a tour of industry with a view to showing them investment opportunities.

Clr Moyo said the local authority would continue offering a 50 percent rate discount to local firms up to the end of next month to promote the local economy.

The council’s finance manager Isaac Matare reported that 458 commercial accounts out of 3,853 had benefited from the arrangement since its inception early this year, with council discounting about $2.07 million dollars.

Liquor operators urged council to review its licensing system saying the charges were exorbitant and the process cumbersome.

Others called for moderation in charges levied on business in consideration of location and clientele base.

This was after it emerged that liquor operators were charged a flat fee of $600 per month.

At least 100 firms have closed shop in Bulawayo in the last decade leaving scores of workers jobless.

The meeting was meant to gather business operators’ views as part of the 2015 budget consultation process.