VICE-PRESIDENT Phelekezela Mphoko has warned that there is still a lot of work ahead to improve capacity as it still remains a challenge for the country and the continent as a whole.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) is having its 25th anniversary which is running under the theme Developing Capacity for Africa’s Economic and Social Transformation.
Speaking at the official opening of the anniversary of the ACBF, Mphoko yesterday said: “We should bear in mind that this is an occasion for us to look in, out and ahead. Despite our (Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa) achievements, capacity remains a challenge. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
“I call upon African governments, private developers and other stakeholders to support the ACBF. Specifically, the ACBF supported the creation of the Zimbabwe Economic Policy Analysis and Research Unit that has been instrumental in creating economic policies in the country. On the part of Zimbabwe, I want to assure the ACBF has our commitment and full support,” Mphoko said.
According to research of the African Development Bank, 400 million Africans were currently living in extreme poverty, meaning that work still needed to be done to improve capacity.
In Zimbabwe, sustainable socio-economic growth is being underpinned by the lack of human capital. This was due to the bad performance of economy leading to company closures, cash shortages and youths leaving the country for greener pastures.
The International Youth Foundation found that about 83% of the country’s youths in the 15 and 35 age bracket were unemployed due to decreased capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector.
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Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said government should adopt unusual measures to adapt to the current problems plaguing the country, that were keeping capacity low.
“We have had to adapt very unusual measures for the economy. Through the capacity and resilience of our people we have overcome challenges in the past and are confident to overcome current and future challenges,” Chinamasa said.
“As a country, we have intensified our efforts towards socio-economic transformation. Human capital is the key to sustainable socio-economic development that remains for national and continental efforts.”
The main reason why the country was failing to improve its human capital was largely due to the unavailability of cash which has hampered wage pay outs due to the constrained economy.
However, acquiring external cash will be difficult as ACBF chair of the board of governors Goodall Gondwe said funding is becoming “more and more difficult worldwide”.
