Business leaders demand crisis talks with ED

LIVINGSTONE MARUFU

Business leaders are pushing for an urgent meeting with President Emmerson Mnangagwa, warning that unresolved economic challenges require his direct intervention as ministries and regulators have failed to deliver meaningful progress.

Industry executives said only the Head of State’s leadership can accelerate reforms, restore confidence, and position the country to compete under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Captains of industry have already engaged Treasury, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) over a wide range of concerns, but say many issues have either been partially addressed or ignored.

They now believe that regulatory reforms need Mnangagwa’s urgent and personal attention if Zimbabwe is to build a solid foundation for competitiveness and growth.

Speaking at the government–business structured dialogue this week, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) chief executive officer Sekai Kuvarika urged Industry and Commerce Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu to facilitate an urgent engagement with the President.

“We really need this (whole reform agenda) to be given by the Head of State, not just the statement he made earlier and the committees that have been formed. We have something that we need the President to be saying continuously to the market. It will be such a confidence booster and it will also whip everybody that is supposed to be in the market,” Kuvarika said.

“We do believe that the regulatory reform is going to provide a good foundation for people to then address other factors of competitiveness. We are still not satisfied with the pace of the agenda and we believe that it needs Presidential drive, a clarion call of that magnitude to drive the whole reform agenda. What we want is to see a regulation being retired on a daily basis with the announcements made on weekly Cabinet briefings. Every week we must be reporting that we have retired this regulation and we are moving,” she added.

Kuvarika said Zimbabwe requires bold and accelerated reforms, citing Argentina’s President Javier Milei’s “one deregulation per day” model as an inspiration. “Maybe in Zimbabwe, one deregulation per week,” she suggested.

“Such reforms must be led from highest leadership and oversight from the Head of State, supported by Cabinet commitments to deliver regular deregulation milestones,” Kuvarika said, noting that the reform agenda had been initiated in 2017 but has made little progress.

Business leaders argued that reform must be accelerated to strengthen local competitiveness under AfCFTA.

“So a Head of State–driven process must have weekly milestones that are important and time-adjusted. The Head of State himself has to drive this reform agenda.

And so clearly this is top of the agenda for us. The other challenge we have is that government seems to have said that you have told us, leave us to do the reforms, but we need to be part of the solution as our input is still very valid to the whole process,” Kuvarika said.

She called for structured private sector participation in technical committees to ensure reforms are practical, evidence-based, and aligned with industry realities.

Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) president Tapiwa Karoro backed the push, saying direct access to Mnangagwa was crucial.

“… we need a business engagement with the Head of State. The clarion call you made is that we need the Head of State to be the driver for this agenda, especially lthis call for reforms.

“So we’ll build on that but we would like to actually say, Honorable Minister, that we need for there to be direct access to the President. We are discussing this with you here and we appreciate that, but at times the father in the house needs to hear it directly from the children’s mouths,” Karoro said.

He added: “The issue here is, as much as we know and believe you can articulate those issues in our regard, we believe that if there could be that direct interaction between organised business and the President, it would be a different story.”

Executives also warned against government’s narrow definition of growth, which tends to focus on thriving blue-chip firms while overlooking distressed companies.

“At the back of them, you will find that these are not cash-rich companies, and they rely a lot on borrowing in order to finance their own businesses. So, because they are borrowing at high costs, they can’t pay the price for business. Again, the margins of the markets are not the most reasonable, when you’re looking at the current cost of money that we actually get at the moment,” Kuvarika said.

“So, there is a lot of distraction here. The ones that are cash-rich, I’ve said, why? They’ve got their own money. So, they actually don’t need to borrow. When they borrow, they can negotiate better interest rates. So, you find that you may find growth exciting, but we also need to have a laser look at that growth where we are seeing it, whether it’s not a cannibalisation of an existing plane of companies.

“So, let’s look at the distressed entities as a key indicator of what we need. More than we look at those that are flying, the distressed companies are a very good indicator of the key distress points for companies in our economy. And we need to address that,” she said.

While acknowledging some government progress in improving the business environment, executives said major obstacles remain. CEO Africa Roundtable chairman Oswell Binha warned of fragile economic stability undermined by structural weaknesses.

“We are deeply concerned of this fragile stability due to underlying facts, which include liquidity crunch, sub-optimal and managed exchange rate and rising levels of domestic debt [compounded by Government inability to service its contracts – US$176m owed to exporters],” Binha said.

“We are concerned by high levels of informalisation – a negative consequence of the regulatory environment, a generally pessimistic confidence levels.”

Binha said unresolved challenges continue to haunt industry. “Energy is the lifeblood of the industry and regrettably we have been talking of the energy issues for over three decades. We wonder why the Government is not taking urgency required to resolve the energy crisis,” he said.

He added that piecemeal reforms are inadequate: “We note the Government has made commitment to review and reform the regulatory environment and the tax system. However, we believe the sector-by-sector approach is tokenistic. This is national concern which requires an economy-wide approach.”

Binha also criticised the government’s de-dollarisation roadmap as “toxic news” for business. He said the state’s reputation as a bad debtor has crippled long-term lending and investment.

“The Government is a serious bad debtor, which is crippling the industry. The surrender requirements are expropriatory and the failure by Government to pay the ZiG component in time results in confidence and trust loss, ending in deepening economic crisis. Delayed disbursement of the ZiG component creates liquidity challenges and operational challenges,” he said.

According to business leaders, government arrears stretching over two years have created supply chain bottlenecks, undermining production and growth. Rising domestic debt, they warned, is crowding out private sector activity.

Business leaders further argued that liquidity shortages and a managed exchange rate have fuelled arbitrage and speculation. “Honourable Minister, we are raising these issues knowing very well that they do not all fall under your purview. However, we are placing an agenda item on the cabinet programme that will ensure that Zimbabwe enhances its competitiveness programme as we face the AfCFTA and a dynamic global market,” Binha said.

Retailers also highlighted the toll of policy inconsistency and high costs.

Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) acting CEO Innocent Marimo said the sector is under severe pressure.

“However, the operating environment over the past year has been extremely difficult, characterised by exchange rate volatility, costly financing, regulatory burdens, and rising levels of informality. These challenges, if not urgently addressed, threaten the viability of formal retail and wholesale businesses, with negative spillover effects on the entire economy,” Marimo said.

He noted that many operators have already shut down, weakening a sector that links manufacturing, agriculture, transport, and financial services. “Over the past year, however, several operators have been forced to close shop due to an unsustainable operating environment marked and mounting informality. It is against this background that CZR calls for deliberate and targeted government intervention to safeguard this critical sector,” he said.

Marimo urged tailored support. “We firmly believe that the sector is too strategic to be left to navigate these storms alone. With the right policy support, it can meaningfully contribute to the aspirations of the National Development Strategy and ultimately, Vision 2030,” he said.

Although retailers welcomed the extension of the Targeted Finance Facility (TFF) to their sector, Marimo said the high cost of borrowing had discouraged uptake. He called for a dedicated concessionary credit window for retailers and wholesalers, arguing it would unlock working capital, stabilise supply chains, and restore consumer confidence.

Business member organisations across the board also demanded the removal of the Intermediate Money Transfer Tax (IMTT) on all transactions, describing it as one of the heaviest costs burdening formal businesses. They proposed that government make IMTT tax-deductible, shifting the burden onto non-compliant operators in the informal sector.