Zimpapers Logo

Minister Patrick Chinamasa

Business Reporter
THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has engaged researchers to conduct this year’s manufacturing sector survey, which is expected to take a sectoral approach on value chains.

Early this year, CZI identified 18 value chains that need to be prioritised to revive the economy.

The identified value chains among others include cotton-to-clothing, beef-to-leather, juice-to-can or horticultural farm-to-juice value chain and fish-to-fork.

CZI chief executive officer Mr Clifford Sileya said the results of the survey would be released in October ahead of the 2017 national budget presentation by the Government.

“We are presently recruiting researchers (university students) for the manufacturing sector, which will start in earnest given that we’re now beyond our annual congress for this year.

“This year’s survey will take a sectoral approach based on the value chains that we’ve identified,” he said, adding that the focus is on value chains in line with this year’s congress theme, which focused on ‘Strengthening value chains for sustainable industrialisation and economic development”.

The CZI congress ended in Bulawayo last Friday.

Mr Sileya said results of the survey would be released in October so that Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa can capture industry’s concerns into the 2017 fiscal policy statement.

“Since the beginning of the year, industry has been seriously challenged in terms of boosting operational capacity.

‘‘Investment in industry is still very dry and this year it has been exacerbated by the cash crisis,” he said.

While capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector stood at 34,3 percent in 2015, Mr Sileya said some firms have this year managed to improve their capacity to competitive levels.

“Despite low capacity utilisation levels in the manufacturing sector, some companies are doing very well in relation to stimulating productivity.

For example, we’ve companies in sectors such as food and beverages, edible oils and the dairy industry.

“Improvement in capacity utilisation levels can be attributed to improved power supply in the past six months as well as co-operation between industry and the Government for instance on the Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016,” said Mr Sileya.

The manufacturing sector among other operational challenges is grappling with lack of working capital to invest in new machinery as well as high cost of borrowing and weak demand associated with the prevailing liquidity constraints.