'Budget should prioritise recapitalising Bulawayo firms'

THE 2014 national budget statement should be hinged on funding infrastructure development projects and recapitalising strategic companies in Bulawayo, industrialists said yesterday. Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa is expected to announce the upcoming fiscal policy statement between now and next month.

"We all know the challenges Bulawayo is facing and these have been spoken about for the umpteenth time. The budget should be focused on recapitalising our industries so as to create markets that thrive.

"The Government should ensure that companies such as the Cold Storage Company (CSC), National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) and Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) in Matabeleland North are recapitalised so that we are guaranteed of employment creation in the downstream industries," said an industrialist, Jabulani Nkomo.

He said although some companies in the coal industry were performing well, the recapitalisation of HCCL would go a long way in improving coal supply situation on the market.

Nkomo said it was also imperative for the government to ensure that youth empowerment projects in Bulawayo were funded to create job opportunities.

He added: "Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are known to be the key movers in terms of creating employment and business activities. Bulawayo is suffering because of lack of capitalisation; we hope and pray that the minister will in the 2014 national budget fund the SME sector."

If industries are funded, he said the capital injection should match with business activities.

Nkomo said government should prioritise on infrastructural development projects to improve the social well-being of people in Bulawayo and the country at large.

He said housing projects should be prioritised in next year's fiscal policy statement to address the housing backlog in the country.

The city has a housing backlog of about 100 000.

In a separate interview, the Zimbabwe Chamber for SMEs national-organising secretary Energy Majazi said the government needs to come up with a deliberate policy to capitalise businesses in the city.

"Government should have a deliberate policy to capitalise businesses in Bulawayo. Funding should be availed in terms of loans payable over a long-term not in short-term as is the case at present.

"The processing of tenders by government should not be centralised in Harare. And also the local authority should work with the Zimbabwe Chamber for SMEs on issues to do with tenders," he said.

He said the 2014 national budget should consider setting aside $1 million revolving fund to support the SMEs sector in Bulawayo.

Due to economic decline the country went through recently, Bulawayo, once the industrial hub of the country, has been hardest hit by de-industrialisation resulting in about 100 firms closing down in the past few years.

An economic commentator Peter Mhaka said resuscitation of Bulawayo firms was crucial considering the industrial demise in the city.

"The budget statement should prioritise the revival of the manufacturing sector so that the country does not continue as a net importer.

"To address this, priority should be largely on funding ailing industries in Bulawayo. The issue of Bulawayo should be treated with the urgency it deserves.

"Infrastructural development projects such as road rehabilitation should not be forgotten. We recently read in the Press that the resurfacing of highways by Group Five has been abandoned as the contractor protests against non-payment. Such situations should have no room to occur as infrastructure growth and development is critical in any economy," he said.