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Bulawayo which used to be the country’s industrial hub was hard hit by the economic meltdown experienced by the country during the last decade. The city had more than 80 companies either closing or relocating to other towns resulting in more than  20 000 workers losing their jobs. This prompted Government to set up the “Let Bulawayo Survive Campaign” inter-ministerial taskforce to investigate and establish the root cause of the city’s de-industrialisation.

The committee established that most companies urgently need capital injection hence the establishment of the Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund. The $40 million allocated under Dimaf has taken longer than expected to be disbursed to companies with reports that Government is yet to meet its part of the bargain. Bulawayo companies instead of just waiting for the Dimaf funding should explore other options of raising capital such as partnering South African companies. Bulawayo is strategically positioned and this is probably why it has over the years been the country’s industrial hub.

The South African companies, we want to believe, have realised the advantage of the city’s strategic position hence they want to invest in the city. The local companies should not let this opportunity slip. Partnering with South African companies means big business given the fact that the South African economy is one of the big economies on the African continent. The challenge to the local companies is to prove to their potential partners that they have the potential to grow and make money.

The Bulawayo City Council on its part should come up with incentives to attract the new investors.
This could include concessionary prices for industrial stands, exemption from paying for water during construction and other such incentives. The investors want to be guaranteed among other things adequate water. The ZNCC and the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries should immediately put in place committees that will help

facilitate the partnering of local companies with their counterparts in South Africa.

The committees should among other things come up with a data base indicating companies in the various sectors that are ready to enter into partnership which can then be forwarded to the South African business associations. ZNCC and CZI should take advantage of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair which is on next month to conclude partnership deals with their South African counterparts.

What we envisage is a situation whereby these partnership deals become operational before the end of the year. We want to see most of the companies closed opening before the end of the year and those that are operating below capacity operating at full throttle. Many countries are crying for investors and we want to count ourselves luck that we are being considered by big economies like South Africa as investment destination of choice. We want to once again implore Bulawayo companies with the assistance of ZNCC and CZI to, without delay, engage their South African counterparts and urgently conclude partnership deals.