THE Construction Industry Federation of Zimbabwe (Cifoz) has appointed a new board to lead the organisation for the next two years, chief executive officer Annie Rukweza has said. Report by Gamma Mudarikiri Own Correspondent
The new board will be presided over by Gift Mpofu who is taking over from Philip Chiyangwa.
Other members of the executive committee include Tendayi Chimuriwo who is the senior vice-president, Vincent Tendayi coming in as the junior vice-president and Chiyangwa.
Rukweza said she was anticipating an improvement in the operations of Cifoz driven by the new management. She was, however, quick to highlight that the construction industry was facing a gloomy future this year in view of the pending national elections.
“We are anticipating an improvement in the operations of Cifoz with the appointment of a management this year. “However, the construction industry, like any other industry, will suffer a major setback because of the uncertainty associated with the coming elections,” Rukweza said.
“Our clients are slowing down on capital-intensive projects like construction as investors are now taking a wait-and-see attitude.”
She added that the industry continued to suffer from the unavailability of long term financing, while the limited short-term loans were expensive.
“Short-term loans are a mockery and not sustainable for an industry which survives on running projects, which stretch for more than two years (and) where clients will, in most cases, pay after the completion of the project,” Rukweza added.
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Cheap imports from China and South Africa have suffocated the growth of the local industryCifoz has been pushing for a Construction Industry Bill which, if successful, would result in the entity assuming the status of a statutory board.
The Bill would also protect the local players from foreign competition as it provides that preference be given to local companies in the awarding of tenders by the State Procurement Board.
Rukweza said the Bill was now at the Attorney-General’s Office, but could not give timelines on its finalisation.
