Manicaland industrialists are lobbying the government to grant the province Special Economic Zone status, which they say could help revive its industry, which has slumped despite vast natural resources.
Government is working on legislation to set up the special economic zones (SEZ) to attract Foreign Direct Investment. Bulawayo is expected to be granted such status, but the industrialists say Manicaland’s manufacturing base has shrunk in recent times and is in need of the lift SEZ status would give.
The province is host to Zimbabwe’s alluvial diamond fields in Chiadzwa area and its timber industry. In addition to several gold mines, the largest tea plantations are also in the province, which remains a prime agricultural region.
Investments in SEZs are expected to be exempted from compliance with indigenisation and empowerment laws, which demand that locals be 51 percent owners in major businesses. Analysts said besides the promised tax incentives, investors must also be excused from complying with labour laws, which make it difficult for companies to retrench even in cases of underperformance.
“Manicaland is a very strategic region with great potential due to its vast endowments such as minerals, tourism, timber and clean-energy among others and having the province as a Special Economic Zone will be good (for the country’s) economic transformation,” said Wattle Company chief executive officer Franky Kufa.
Tanganda Tea Company finance director Henry Nemaire said, “It is evident that Marange diamonds have capacity to sustain government operations alone. There is the potential of the timber and tourism sectors also. So there is need for government to declare this region a Special Economic Zone.”
The Confederations of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) and the Timber Producers Federation (TPF) are leading the campaign, championing Manicaland’s favourable climatic conditions for cash crops such as tea, bananas and apples and closeness to the port facilities at Beira in Mozambique.
A position paper by CZI’s local chapter said that the province has 25 percent of the world’s diamond deposits while its timber industry has capacity to generate $100 million in annual earnings.
(The Source)
Government is working on legislation to set up the special economic zones (SEZ) to attract Foreign Direct Investment. Bulawayo is expected to be granted such status, but the industrialists say Manicaland’s manufacturing base has shrunk in recent times and is in need of the lift SEZ status would give.
The province is host to Zimbabwe’s alluvial diamond fields in Chiadzwa area and its timber industry. In addition to several gold mines, the largest tea plantations are also in the province, which remains a prime agricultural region.
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| Manicaland lobbies for Special Economic Zone status |
“Manicaland is a very strategic region with great potential due to its vast endowments such as minerals, tourism, timber and clean-energy among others and having the province as a Special Economic Zone will be good (for the country’s) economic transformation,” said Wattle Company chief executive officer Franky Kufa.
Tanganda Tea Company finance director Henry Nemaire said, “It is evident that Marange diamonds have capacity to sustain government operations alone. There is the potential of the timber and tourism sectors also. So there is need for government to declare this region a Special Economic Zone.”
The Confederations of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) and the Timber Producers Federation (TPF) are leading the campaign, championing Manicaland’s favourable climatic conditions for cash crops such as tea, bananas and apples and closeness to the port facilities at Beira in Mozambique.
A position paper by CZI’s local chapter said that the province has 25 percent of the world’s diamond deposits while its timber industry has capacity to generate $100 million in annual earnings.
(The Source)
