Capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector grew by between 30 and 50 percentage points in the past three months driven by a restriction on imports, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has said.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
In July, the government promulgated Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016, which removed some products from the open general import licence, as they have local equivalents.
The government said importation of the restricted products required a permit, but after they had satisfied authorities why the permits should be issued.
CZI vice-president, Sifelani Jabangwe yesterday told guests at the Fourth Retailers and Suppliers Conference, hosted by Buy Zimbabwe, that industry expected more gains in the coming months.
“We are seeing an average of between 30% and 50% in capacity utilisation increases. This is only in a space of three months and expect further improvements in the next six months,” he said.
Before the restrictions, capacity utilisation was below 30%.
The increase in capacity utilisation comes as the Ministry of Industry and Commerce’s monitoring and evaluation committee found many notable improvements that include increased employment levels.
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Industry and Commerce ministry permanent secretary, Abigail Shoniwa said an analysis of product by product based on data from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency revealed that there has been a decrease in imports level for products such as coffee creamers and body creams, among others.
“If this trend continues, there will definitely be lots of benefits to downstream industries, particularly to agriculture and mining,” she said in a speech read on her behalf by the ministry’s deputy director in the enterprise department, Spiwe Nyamatore.
“Since it [SI 64 of 2016] is a temporary measure, going forward for the purpose of sustainability and continuity of the gains from SI 64, we would be looking into a local content or local procurement policy.”
Some of the notable improvements include the Tregers Group, which increased employment from 2 006 to 2 172, while production capacities rose from 35% to 45%, with plastic division currently operating at 80%.
Datlabs reported a 60% increase in sales and KDV, a manufacturer of mattresses, increased capacity to 85%.
To further support these gains, the government is focusing its efforts on local content or local procurement referring to a percentage value added to the Zimbabwean economy, she said.
Shoniwa said developing a local procurement policy would involve a systematic development of capacity and capabilities through the deliberate utilisation of human capital, material resources, technology, goods and services.
She said the ministry was also working on the new Industrial Development Policy for 2017 to 2021, which seeks to maximise the exploitation of natural resources through the enhancement of investment in the economy.
Industry and Commerce minister Mike Bimha said there was need for new partnerships between the government and private sector to grow the economy and create more jobs, adding that the ministry was putting more thrust on value addition.
“To generate the much-need foreign currency we talk about, we need the enablers like water, electricity. This is a private sector-driven programme. We want the private sector to be right in the front and walk with us,” he said.
“If you (private sector) grow, then government also grows. Each ministry needs to look at ways to boost the private sector.”
