Zimbabwe economy on recovery path, dreams Mugabe

Zimbabwe's economy is on the steady road to recovery, with more distressed companies expected to come to life in 2016, President Mugabe has said.

Closing the highly-successful 15th Annual National People's Conference here yesterday, President Mugabe hailed resilient firms for maintaining operations and increasing production despite Western economic sanctions on Zimbabwe.

"The economy is becoming better and next year, we expect things to be better. Some dead companies will become alive. The economy is on the steady road to recovery. Some companies are now back on their feet.

"I didn't know that some of the companies especially in Bulawayo have survived the hard times. Cold Storage Commission is once again back on its feet. We want the CSC entities in Harare, Marondera and Masvingo to come back to life. We have to revive it and make it better than it used to be."

He added: "I hear that Bata Company was now back on its feet and where it had lost just a handful of workers now has a thousand workers. We also hear that United Refineries in Bulawayo has now a 100 percent capacity."

President Mugabe called on mining companies to increase output, and applauded SMEs for their innovativeness.

"Once upon a time, we were told that Vodka was a product of the Russians, but we now hear that our SMEs are producing Vodka.

"They have given me a small bottle of Vodka, but I said I should not drink it before the conference, but now after the conference you will agree with me that I should drink it. I don't know whether Mai Mugabe will allow me to drink it. I didn't show her, but now I will show her," joked the President.

He said economic sanctions imposed on the country by the West had made Zimbabweans tough.

"We have our own philosophy and ideology. We believe that our natural resources are our own and we don't share them with anyone," he said.

President Mugabe told companies, especially those in mining, that are still to comply with indigenisation and empowerment regulations to do so before 2015 is out.

"Come January 2016, the stubbornness and resistance should end. In 2016, we will not accept companies that refuse and reject our policy of indigenisation and empowerment in the manner we inscribed it. The natural resources you are working with are ours and we should have 51 percent shares in the companies.

"If you bring resources that we do not have in the country, then we can negotiate with you, but where resources are ours, there is no negotiation because you will be depleting our resources. Resources are not for this generation alone, but also for our children and children's children."

The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment (General) Regulations – gazetted on January 29, 2010, becoming effective on March 1, 2010 – spell out the Act's implementation modalities.

The Statutory Instrument says all businesses with an asset value of at least US$500 000 shall comply with the requirement of 51 percent indigenous shareholding.

Such businesses were given five years to comply.

Further, the SI specifies the forms to be filled, time for submission and time extension guidelines.

Eligible businesses have 45 days to notify the Minister of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment of their shareholding structures, simultaneously submitting their implementation plans if they are not compliant.

President Mugabe said Zim-Asset must succeed.

"Let us produce and add value to our produce. When we market them, our earnings will be higher. We must now work hard to ensure that we produce," he said.