Govt shortlists 10 parastatals for reform
GOVERNMENT, through the State Enterprises Restructuring Agency(Sera), is targeting to rehabitate10 parastatals that have the potential to positively contribute to outcomes of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset).
Air Zimbabwe, TelOne, Arda (the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority), the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), the Cold Storage Commission (CSC), the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (Caaz), the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) are all earmarked for reform.
Sera executive director Mr Edgar Nyoni told The Sunday Mail Business that focus is mainly on enterprises that make up the utilities cluster of the current economic blueprint since they have the potential to bring quick wins for economic growth.
“Government has a portfolio of 107 SEPs, so given this magnitude it will be technically challenging to implement a holistic SEPs reform for all SEPs at once. In this regard, Government has adopted a policy of prioritising SEP (State Enterprises and Parastatals (SEPs) reform based on obtaining medium-term economic blue prints, ZimAsset being the current policy.
“In pursuit of ZimAsset, Government, therefore, identified 10 SEPs which are predominantly in the utility sectors and are critical in the achievement of cluster objectives,” said Mr Nyoni.
CSC is currently negotiating with its creditors in order to thrash out a deal that will mark the revival of the meat processor. NSSA is prepared to be a key financier to the deal.
On the other hand, NRZ intends to raise US$400 million for recapitalisation through the open tender financing process.
Encouragingly, the rail concern attracted more than 80 local and international investors during its pre-bid conference on May 30. In addition to easing pressure on the road network, the resuscitation of NRZ is expected to improve the doing business environment since using it is 40 percent cheaper than road.
Submission of tenders is expected to close on July 4, 2017.
Also, IDC is in the market looking for investors that will inject US$60 million into its unit, Chemplex Corporation.
Case-by-case assessments
Sera said an additional 12 State enterprises have also been identified as critical in the socio-economic transformation of the country.
It is expected that Government will prescribe reforms on a caseby-case basis for parastatals such as Agribank, the Small to Medium Enterprises Development Corporation (Sl;medco), the Infrastructural Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) and the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), Allied Timbers, the Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre (SIRDC), the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara), the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), Zimparks and the Forestry Commission.
Government is in the process of drafting terms of references for the recruitment of consultants that will conduct performance reviews for the targeted companies.
It is believed policy makers are keen on ensuring that parastatals observe “good governance, optimum financial and operational performance as well as adequate capitalisation”.
Separately, Government is in the process of drafting a Corporate Governance Bill to ensure transparency in the administration of Government owned and or controlled entities.
Sera was established in 1999 as the then Privatisation Agency of Zimbabwe (PAZ). It later mutated to its current form in 2004 to manage and coordinate the reform programme.
Since inception, it has helped in the recapitalisation of Olivine Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, the unbundling of Post and Telecommunications (PTC) into TelOne, NetOne and Zimpost, and the transformation of the Zimbabwe Development Bank (ZDB) into the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ), among other transactions.