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Bulawayo which used to be the country’s industrial hub, is one of the cities and towns where distressed firms have retooled and are back in production because of an enabling environment created by the Second Republic. 

A total of 13 companies across the country are back in production taking advantage of the improved ease of doing business environment. Bulawayo industries used to employ thousands of people in clothing, textiles, engineering, iron and steel as well as food manufacturing. Companies such as Zambezi Tanners and Ref Air in Bulawayo have retooled and are back in full production thereby reviving the city’s hopes to reclaim its status as the country’s industrial hub. 

The ongoing programme to revive distressed companies is complementing Government’s initiatives to attract new investors in the different sectors of the economy. The new investors that are setting up businesses across the country since the coming in of the Second Republic, have confirmed that indeed Zimbabwe is Open for Business. 

The country is in fact now an investment destination of choice in the region and beyond as evidenced by the many new companies that are investing millions of dollars in sectors such as mining. Many Lithium mining projects are taking shape across the country and very soon the country will be among the leading producers of lithium in the world at a time when lithium is the mineral of the moment due to production of electric cars. Lithium is used to manufacture rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, mobile phones, laptops and digital cameras. 

Zimbabwe which had before the coming in of the Second Republic been reduced to a retailer of imported products, is now producing most of its goods and as such locally-produced products now occupy about 80 percent of retail shelves. Government is encouraging citizens to consume locally-produced products to support local industries that are not only saving the much needed foreign currency through import substitution, but are also creating employment. What is also encouraging is that some of the new companies investing in the country are employing skilled Zimbabweans in the diaspora, a confirmation that Zimbabwe has the required skilled manpower to industrialise and modernise.  

It is these skilled Zimbabweans in the diaspora that the Government is encouraging to return home and use their skills to exploit the country’s abundant resources for the development of the motherland. Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabaninilo (Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo). We want at this juncture to applaud the Government for creating the environment that allows companies to retool and expand while at the same time attracting new investments. 

The programme to assist distressed firms, we want to believe, is ongoing and there are many such companies in Bulawayo. The city, as already alluded to, is working to regain its status of being the country’s industrial hub given its strategic position in the region.