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Dr Nkosana Moyo

Business Reporter
THE 2016 Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) congress kicks off in Bulawayo today with key speakers including former Industry and International Trade Minister Dr Nkosana Moyo lined up for the event.

Dr Moyo, who is founder and executive chairperson of The Mandela Institute for Development Studies in South Africa, will join current Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha and Mr Nuradin Osman, the managing director for Africa and the Middle East for AGCO Corporation (Massey Ferguson) as top presenters.

As Zimbabwe grapples with industry viability constraints which have seen capacity utilisation remaining stagnant at around 34 percent, delegates are expected to examine issues around financial support, addressing cost competitiveness and export performance, organisers say.

Dr Moyo is expected to share his expertise with local industry executives having served in senior positions at the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group, Actis LLP — a British Private Equity Firm and the African Development Bank.

He is currently a non-executive director on the boards of Old Mutual PLC and Impala Platinum.

AGCO is the world’s third largest farm equipment maker. It is the manufacturer of the popular Massey Ferguson tractors and offers a wide range of tractors, combine harvesters and sprayers, forage and tillage equipment.

Since 2011, Mr Osman has been leading sales and marketing for the African and Middle Eastern market. In 2013 he was recognised for his leadership talent and awarded the Tutu and Oxford University Fellowship Award to a Young African leader.

Mr Busisa Moyo, a renowned industrialist and chief executive officer of the Bulawayo-based agro-processor, United Refineries Limited, is the president of CZI.

The three-day congress runs under the theme “Strengthening Value Chains for Sustainable Industrialisation and Economic Development” and ends on Friday.

Other key topics for discussion include mechanisation as a catalyst for sustainable growth, value chains as a strategy for reindustrialisation and value chain financing as a strategy for industrialisation.