Bulawayo city councillors say the time for endless economic discussions is over with the local authority now pushing for action-driven solutions to revive the city’s struggling industries, create jobs and restore Bulawayo’s status as the country’s industrial hub.
This comes as the city prepares to host the Bedcon-Cobris 2026 Joint Summit from August 19 to 21 at a local hotel a high-level forum aimed at linking economic policy with academic research to accelerate industrial recovery.
According to a progress report presented to council, the summit marks a deliberate shift from theoretical planning to implementation.
Strategically themed The Implementation Imperative: Delivering Sustainable Prosperity through Collaborative Industry, the summit is intended to move Bulawayo away from policy inertia and toward tangible economic outcomes.
“The event remains firmly positioned to move the City from ‘Analysis Paralysis’ to ‘Industrial Agility,’ establishing a sustainable, world-class economy for Bulawayo,” reads part of the report.
For years, Bulawayo has battled deindustrialisation, company closures, shrinking investment and rising unemployment, with repeated calls for practical interventions to revive the economy.
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Council believes the new summit could become a key platform for driving the city’s economic resurgence by bringing together policymakers, academics, industry leaders and entrepreneurs under one framework.
The report says the summit seeks to dismantle long-standing silos between industry and research, allowing industrial challenges to receive immediate solutions through academic innovation.
Among the expected benefits are economic resurgence, infrastructure modernisation, intellectual property protection and improved global competitiveness for local firms through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework.
City officials say a major focus will be modernising service delivery through digital systems, with the summit expected to promote a “Smart City” ecosystem capable of replacing slow manual processes.
Meanwhile, preparations for the conference are already at an advanced stage.
A scientific committee comprising experts from National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU), Bulawayo Polytechnic and Lupane State University (LSU) has been constituted to oversee a blind peer-review process for research submissions.
The city has also launched an online management portal to facilitate registrations and research submissions.
At least 29 papers have been submitted representing 73% of the targeted 40 submissions with 28 currently under review and one rejected.
However, the report also reveals weak participation in some critical sectors central to Bulawayo’s recovery.
While Entrepreneurship, SME Growth and Access to Finance attracted 12 submissions and Innovation, IP and Sustainable Industry drew eight, areas such as Economic Devolution, Infrastructure, and Market Access received just one submission each.
This may raise concerns over whether all strategic sectors are sufficiently engaged in crafting the city’s recovery roadmap.
The report says while momentum is positive, the real test will be whether the summit delivers concrete results.