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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
THE Second Republic has the political will to revive Bulawayo industries hence local companies should articulate their challenges to Government so that it can come up with necessary interventions.

Government’s commitment to resuscitation of Bulawayo industries saw President Mnangagwa taking his time in May to visit some of the well performing companies.

During his visit, President Mnangagwa commended the private sector leaders for employing innovations to drive their resuscitation.

While some industries have rode on innovation to increase productivity, there are other companies that are still struggling and are finding it difficult to compete in the market.

Minister of State for Presidential Affairs responsible for monitoring and implementation of Government programmes Dr Joram Gumbo said such companies should take advantage of Government’s political will to change their performances.

Dr Gumbo was speaking yesterday after touring National Blankets which is one of the priority projects that Government wants to see revitalised and running.

He said National Blankets has a rich history dating back to 1939 and at its peak it used to employ up to 5 000 workers and was a major supplier of textile products in the Sadc region.

Dr Gumbo said President Mnangagwa’s Government is ready to lend ears to all the sectors of the economy hence industries in Bulawayo should not be left behind.

“The Second Republic has the political will to see the revival of Bulawayo based industries. We have a leadership that is keen to see Bulawayo getting back to its former status,” said Dr Gumbo.

He said what is unfortunate is that some company executives do not articulate their problems after Cabinet ministers visit their institutions.

“It’s not that we enjoy coming to Bulawayo, when we visit your places it’s an opportunity for you to actually cry, to actually bring forward the problems and challenges that you are facing.

This will enable us to take your issues to His Excellency who can then direct how the issues should be handled. But the moment I come with my team, you should take that opportunity to explain what you think has to be done for you as an entity, where you would want to go and explain your vision and explain why you are failing to achieve it,” he said.

“You also need to explain how you wish to be assisted. There is no harm in making your own plea and tell us what you want to see happening in Bulawayo. But most of you are not doing that We come here to listen to your challenges but sometimes it appears as if we have to force you to tell us about your challenges.”

Dr Gumbo completed a two-day tour of Bulawayo industries yesterday after also visiting Zimbabwe Grain Bags and Zambezi Tanners as part of the 100-Day Cycle Programme.

He said the recapitalisation of National Blankets was long overdue and weaning itself from judicial management was commendable.

“Despite this commendable development, the company is in dire need of a capital injection of approximately US$1,5 million for the procurement of raw materials to kick start operations.

It is the expectation of Government that industries should benefit communities directly by creating employment producing durable and affordable products for the locals. Government also expects industries to boost the country’s foreign currency earnings through exports,” he said.

Dr Gumbo said Government wants to see more local companies increasing their capacity utilisation and reduce the import bill.

“The Second Republic is encouraging the consumption of locally produced products with the intention to increase the proportion of shelf space occupied by local products to at least 80 percent. The ultimate objective is to realise the aspirations of the NDS 1 of import substitution and domestication of value chains,” said Dr Gumbo.

He said Bulawayo has a role in the development nexus of the country considering its expansive industrial area which covers Belmont, Kelvin, Thorngrove, and other areas.

Dr Gumbo said the revival of Bulawayo industries is not just important to the city but the southern parts of the country used to track to find employment opportunities.

“I love Bulawayo because most of the people who come from where I come from (Midlands) actually are employed here. We did not know Salisbury, (Harare) our town was Bulawayo or we would go to Johannesburg.

But not now, most of our young people are just going to Botswana and South Africa because companies are closed. So, if you can’t take advantage of us and arrest this situation and state what needs to be done to revive industries in Bulawayo so that the city can reclaim the name Kontuthu Ziyathunqa,” he said.

Local businessman Ambassador Zenzo Nsimbi took advantage of the event to reveal that while Government was promoting ease of doing business the situation on the ground was different.
He said the operating environment is what could be suffocating most businesses.

“I will tell you about my personal experience, I imported equipment for my plant and engaged Zesa to supply me to connect me to the national grid.

“However, Zesa said it didn’t have the transformer, I had to sell my cattle to buy the transformer and Zesa said I should surrender the transformer to it. It also made additional requests so that it could connect to power the US$15 000 equipment. This is very unfair. So, I’m stuck with that equipment that I cannot install because of those problems,” said Ambassador Nsimbi.

He said some companies demand cash payments for all their services and the transactions have to be paid in Harare which is an additional expense for Bulawayo industries. — @nqotshili