These
concerns
were
highlighted
during
the
National
Competitiveness
Commission
(NCC)
Inaugural
Competitiveness
Summit
held
in
Bulawayo
on
Wednesday
under
the
theme:
Building
Sustainability
Towards
Enhanced
Productivity
and
Competitiveness
in
Zimbabwe.
The
summit
brought
together
key
stakeholders,
including
industry
leaders,
economists,
and
government
officials,
to
discuss
the
challenges
facing
Zimbabwe’s
industry.
Among
the
most
pressing
issues
raised
was
the
burden
of
regulatory
compliance,
which
business
leaders
argue
is
crippling
the
private
sector
and
undermining
the
country’s
ability
to
compete
regionally
and
globally.
Chief
Economist
at
the
Confederation
of
Zimbabwe
Industries
(CZI),
Cornelius
Dube,
painted
a
grim
picture
of
Zimbabwe’s
industrial
competitiveness.
He
cited
the
Competitive
Industrial
Performance
(CIP)
Index,
published
by
the
United
Nations
Industrial
Development
Organisation
(UNIDO),
which
ranks
Zimbabwe
124
globally
and
20
in
Africa
in
terms
of
industrial
competitiveness.
“We
are
failing
in
our
capacity
to
produce
and
export
manufactured
goods,
to
be
in
line
with
other
countries
such
as
Namibia,
even
Eswatini
of
all
countries
is
better
than
us.
Our
world
impact,
at
least
it’s
not
our
worst,
but
we
are
115
in
terms
of
the
impact
that
our
industry
is
having
in
the
world,”
he
said.
“There
are
industry-specific
factors
that
affect
competitiveness,
but
there
are
also
other
issues,
especially
with
respect
to
the
enabling
environment.”
Dube
also
attributed
this
poor
performance
to
the
country’s
reliance
on
imported
raw
materials.
“About
52%
of
raw
materials
used
in
the
manufacturing
industry
are
imported,”
Dube
said.
“For
example,
87%
of
raw
materials
in
the
pharmaceutical
industry
are
imported.
To
what
extent
can
we
call
these
products
‘Manufactured
in
Zimbabwe’
if
they
rely
so
heavily
on
foreign
inputs?”
he
questioned.
Another
measure
of
competitiveness
Dube
cited
was
how
almost
half
of
Zimbabwe’s
industry
was
lying
idle.
“Our
capacitisation
is
53%
and
probably
this
is
an
improvement
compared
to
where
we
are
coming
from.
But
that
trend
is
also
showing
us
that
almost
close
to
half
of
the
plant
capacity
is
lying
idle.
Those
that
specialise
in
production
would
tell
you,
you
cannot
achieve
economies
of
scale,
cannot
be
competitive
and
your
pricing
will
be
affected
if
half
of
your
plant
is
just
lying
idle,”
said
the
economist.
Dube
also
highlighted
the
high
cost
of
regulatory
compliance,
which
he
said
is
disproportionately
burdensome
for
businesses.
According
to
World
Bank
data,
Zimbabwe
has
51
licenses
that
businesses
must
pay
for,
compared
to
just
seven
in
South
Africa
and
11
in
Zambia.
This
regulatory
overload,
Dube
argued,
is
a
significant
barrier
to
competitiveness
and
a
‘huge’
drain
on
resources.”
“For
manufacturing
firms,
almost
80%
of
regulatory
costs
exceed
their
capacity
to
pay,”
he
said.
“On
average,
businesses
devote
10
days
a
month
pursuing
regulatory
compliance
and
they
need
at
least
three
employees
because
you
cannot
have
one
who
is
a
master
of
knowing
what
EMA
or
the
National
Biotechnology
would
want,”
Dube
said.
Dube
pointed
out
that
the
problem
is
worsening,
with
new
regulations
being
introduced
at
an
alarming
rate.
“We
analysed
about
42
regulations
and
about
24%
are
just
10
years
or
below.
That
means
as
we
are
speaking
right
now,
new
regulations
are
being
thought
about.
Some
are
over
50
years
old
but
we
also
have
very
recent
regulations.
Over
the
past
20
years,
we
had
about
38%
new
regulations,”
he
said.
“There’s
one
SME
who
wanted
to
formalise
and
they
actually
paid
US$8
515
to
formalise.
We
are
talking
about
somebody
who
was
just
informal.
In
other
words,
the
only
way
we
can
actually
incentivise
formalisation
is
to
deal
with
these
issues.”
In
response
to
these
challenges,
Dube
called
for
urgent
intervention,
including
a
presidential
decree
to
temporarily
reduce
regulatory
costs
by
50%.
He
argued
such
a
measure
would
provide
much-needed
relief
to
businesses
without
crippling
regulatory
authorities.
“Even
if
most
regulators’
charges
are
reduced
by
50%,
they
are
not
going
to
go
broke,”
Dube
said.
“They
are
just
collecting
fees,
regardless
of
the
performance
of
businesses
or
the
state
of
the
economy.”
Dube
also
emphasised
the
need
for
a
regulatory
impact
assessment
to
evaluate
the
cost
and
benefit
of
existing
regulations.
“All
regulations
should
be
subjected
to
a
justification
exercise.
If
a
regulation
cannot
pass
a
cost-benefit
analysis,
it
should
be
removed,”
he
said.
“Because
a
company
wants
to
set
up
a
solar
farm.
You
take
$25
000.
Why
are
you
taking
$25
000?”
Chief
Executive
Officer
at
the
Zimbabwe
National
Chamber
of
Commerce
(ZNCC),
Christopher
Mugaga,
echoed
Dube’s
concerns
and
highlighted
the
proliferation
of
Statutory
Instruments
(SIs)
as
a
major
challenge
for
businesses.
SIs
are
often
introduced
without
adequate
consultation
and
have
been
criticised
for
creating
an
uncertain
business
environment
and
increasing
compliance
costs.
“The
sad
thing
is
these
SIs
have
a
bias
towards
business.
I
don’t
know
whether,
together,
government,
we
are
impatient
to
wait
for
the
policy
to
respond.
Because
it’s
one
policy,
then
tomorrow
because
there
are
people
who
are
doing
this,
you
put
another
SI
to
deal
with
them,”
he
said.
Mugaga
called
for
greater
scrutiny
of
SIs
to
ensure
they
align
with
existing
legislation
and
policy
frameworks.
“The
hope
from
the
private
sector
is
that
all
SIs
undergo
thorough
review
by
the
legal
portfolio
committee
to
ensure
they
are
not
ultra
vires
or
inconsistent
with
existing
laws,”
he
said.
Mugaga
also
criticised
the
size
and
role
of
the
government,
which
he
said
is
stifling
market
forces
and
hindering
economic
growth.
“The
government
is
too
big,
not
just
in
terms
of
the
number
of
employees
but
also
in
its
role
in
the
economy,”
he
said.
“When
you
violate
market
forces,
the
consequences
are
predictable.
We
need
to
respect
market
forces
if
we
want
to
solve
75%
of
our
economic
problems.”
Chief
Executive
Officer
of
Africa
Roundtable,
Kipson
Gundani,
agreed
with
Mugaga’s
assessment,
warning
of
a
growing
mismatch
between
the
public
and
private
sectors.
“As
the
private
sector
contracts,
the
public
sector
continues
to
grow.
This
creates
a
serious
imbalance
in
the
economy,”
Gundani
said.
“The
public
sector
is
being
failed
by
a
contracting
private
sector,
which
is
struggling
to
generate
the
revenue
needed
to
sustain
government
operations.”
Gundani
called
for
a
comprehensive
review
of
the
size
and
structure
of
the
government.
“There’s
nothing
wrong
with
right-sizing
the
government.
If
the
private
sector
is
cutting
its
cloth
to
fit,
the
public
sector
should
do
the
same,”
the
CEO
said.