Zanu PF Mberengwa South legislator Alum Mpofu last week took President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s 2030 middle income economy vision to his constituency, rallying the business community to take part in rebuilding the country’s economy.
Addressing Constituency Business Meeting at Mataga Growth point last week, Mpofu commended Mnangagwa’s 2030 vision which he said is anchored on the Zimbabwe Is Open for Business.
“The question we should ask ourselves is what are we doing to make Zimbabwe’s economic turnaround achievable? What do we have that should be exploited to the fullest to secure our businesses or to expand our projects we are doing?
“The President is clear. His vision is to see an economic transformed country with equal opportunities for all. So you must be encouraged by his stance towards business as it is his priority,” Mpofu said.
Since taking over the levers of power from former President Robert Mugabe last November, President Mnangagwa has been on an aggressive global re-engagement program although meaningful positives are yet to be seen.
The business community expressed concern over the challenging environment which they said is yet to match government narrative.
“Open for business narrative need to tally with services we get from the customs department at the border post. We get our goods from South Africa but we are delayed for three to four days to get clearance from the border custom officers.
“This disturbs the business chain as this also affects pricing,” said Solomon Ncube, a business person operating at Mataga Growthpoint.
Another business person who declined to be named bemoaned the scarcity of foreign currency which comes at a time when the central bank is failing to match the forex demands leaving some business institutions incapacitated with some on the verge of closure.
“There is no foreign currency in our local banks and the queue at Reserve Bank is too big for us with small businesses. We are also told that if we are caught buying forex in the black market it’s 10 years in jail so what should we do? We cannot buy with bond notes across the border,” he said.
Presenting a 2019 national budget late last month, Economic and Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube struck the raw nerve of some business people involved in car sales with his new measures that compel vehicle importers to pay duty in forex.
