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President Emmerson Mnangagwa

Government says it will soon introduce a new development model under which provincial authorities will be allowed to draw up their own budgets and evaluate their own economic output as part of a broader vision by the Government to accelerate national development.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa said under the new system, the budgets and proposed development plans will be submitted to central Government for assessment before approval.

Cde Mnangagwa told captains of industry recently that the proposed development model allowed competition among provinces. “In the spirit of fostering business innovation, competition and entrepreneurship among our country’s 10 provinces, my Government is mooting the idea of establishing provincial GDP by industry,” said President Mnangagwa.

He said it was critical to identify how much each province is contributing to the GDP. The proposed model will enable provinces to plan based on available resources and capacity and as stated by Cde Mnangagwa, the model allows competition among the provinces.

The local communities under this model will be involved in the planning and implementation of development plans that directly benefit them. This arrangement will address the problem of blaming others for lack of development in the communities. The councils, both urban and rural are already drawing up their own budgets and proposing development plans which are then approved by central Government.

Under the new arrangement, we want to believe, these council budgets will be incorporated in the provincial budgets and the individual development plans will be consolidated into provincial plans which are then submitted to central Government. Under the proposed development model, provinces will be able to evaluate their economic development and identify any shortcomings retarding development.

Those provinces lagging behind will be motivated to work even harder to catch up with other provinces and in the process accelerating development in their respective areas. The provinces under the proposed model will also share notes and experiences that will help in accelerating development.

Central Government under the proposed model will play a facilitation role as provinces play a leading role in deciding what projects to implement, when and what resources should be allocated to these projects or programmes.

The concept of provinces coming up with their own budgets and development plans is not new given the fact that under the Community Share Ownership Scheme districts or provinces decide what projects to implement using funds paid by companies exploiting natural resources in their areas.

We want to implore Government to move with speed to introduce this proposed development model which we are convinced will accelerate development and make it easy for central Government to identify those provinces lagging behind. All our provinces are endowed with different natural resources so there is no excuse for lack of development.

Accelerated development will positively impact on the people’s welfare so it is the people that will push for development in their respective provinces in order to enjoy a better life.