GOVERNMENT has warned foreign-funded companies that their plans have to meet the national agenda if they are to be considered.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
Speaking during a panel discussion on how government must harness commitments towards developing social and economic transformation, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said it was important to engage in constructive debates with development partners.
The panel discussion was part of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) silver jubilee celebrations that ended in Harare yesterday.
“Sometimes this help is unsustainable where you find the first two years are okay, but in the third year, the national budget starts getting constrained. There is a problem of mutual suspicion from our non-State actors and government that they are driving an agenda that is not in line with the national opinion,” Chinamasa said.
“Anything (deals) that is not homegrown or has no ownership will not do. There should be no imposition of solutions . . . so anything apart from that will have no effect and will be taken forward.”
He said government needed to foster dialogue with the private sector to develop viable business policies.
The private sector has often accused government of having unfavourable policies that are not conducive for growth and as a result, have led to capital flight and massive deindustrialisation.
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Government has for a long time seen this as a way of having a foothold in the economy to have access to natural resources that it viciously sought to protect.
The suspicion between the government and private sector has led to the former losing from foreign investors.
Development consultant of Great Dyke Investment, Hesphina Rukato, said leadership must first understand the private and public sector before implementing policies.
“Focus on policy implementation and impact, and the resulting performance or non-performance. Systemic analysis of the deeper problems in terms of institutions, their processes, structures, regulations, resources, peoples competence and motivation, behaviour and the context in which institutions operate (policies, environment, institutional arrangements and functions) are key towards implementation of policies,” Rukato said.
“Focus on enabling and motivation factors for organising the system to perform better, rather than control, including leadership.”
She said leadership or governments in Africa should “show consistency in implementing and putting forward policies” to avoid confusion between government and the private sector.
