Industry retooling gains momentum

GOVERNMENT has outlined plans to assist industry’s retooling efforts to improve efficiencies and reduce the high cost of doing business in the country.

e manufacturing sector has been bogged down by obsolete equipment, negatively impacting industrial capacity utilisation.

Addressing participants at the Chartered Governance and Accountancy Institute in Zimbabwe annual conference in Victoria Falls recently, Industry and Commerce permanent secretary Mavis Sibanda revealed that her ministry was looking for funding for industry to replace obsolete equipment.

“We have submitted a request to the Finance ministry to see if we can get any funding,” Sibanda said. “e reason Zimbabwe is a high cost country is because the equipment is old.”

She said the replacement of old equipment was an area of priority for her ministry but cautioned that it would take time.

“We are working as a government to have a good industry,” she said.

Sibanda pointed out that there is need to improve corporate governance in both the public and private sectors.

She said at a time when there had been challenges in the government’s procurement processes, governance and accountancy professionals were needed to help government account for its resources.

“You are the centrepiece of the growth of the public and private sectors,” Sibanda said.

She said proper governance structures were pivotal to economic growth.

“ere is no doubt that without proper governance systems and structures, we cannot have the transparency and accountability required for an economic growth trajectory,” she said.

She pointed out that governance and accountancy professionals should innovate to ensure that they remain relevant.