The Sunday Mail
President Mugabe has been hailed for empowering Zimbabweans and creating an environment in which SMEs and co-operatives can thrive.
This was said by SADC Co-operatives Federation president Mr Knowledge Bale of South Africa here yesterday, where Senior Minister of State in the President’s Office Simon Khaya Moyo was leading International Day of Co-operatives commemorations.
Zimbabwe has more than 5 000 registered co-operatives operating in the agriculture, mining, manufacturing, finance and transport sectors. Mr Bale said, “We would like people to support President Mugabe because he protects our heritage, our natural resources. We must tell him in public that we love him so that he continues to stand for Africa.”
Senior Minister Khaya Moyo called on Zimbabweans to shun the “consumerist culture” and embrace savings as a means of empowering themselves and spurring economic revival.
He said savings at household level were critical to national development.
“Savings and credit co-operatives are critical in our society. They inculcate a culture of saving. Today our people have succumbed to a consumerist culture. They want to spend without making any savings. This is not good for us as a nation. We need to save in order to invest and empower ourselves whilst we revive our economy,” Senior Minister Khaya Moyo said.
He said co-operatives provided opportunities for empowerment of youths through common ownership of property.
“If we are to move our economies forward and promote the interests of all citizens in our societies, and not just those of the rich and powerful, it is essential that we look at the co-operatives movement as a priority sector in our economic planning,” he said.
Senior Minister Khaya Moyo called for innovation in business, adding that Government would continue providing an environment in which co-operatives could thrive.
In a speech read on her behalf by Mashonaland West Minister of State Faber Chidarikire, SME’s and Co-operatives Development Minister Sithembiso Nyoni urged Zimbabweans to be assertive in creating an enabling environment for economic growth.
