Zim competitiveness drops one rung

04 Oct, 2015 - 00:10 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

Business Editor
THE local economy’s global competitiveness fell by one rung for the second successive year dragged by challenges in accessing finance, policy instability, restrictive labour regulations, inadequate supply of infrastructure, inefficient Government bureaucracy and corruption, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s latest report.

In the latest 2015 to 2016 Global Competitiveness Report published on Wednesday, which measures 140 economies from 144 that were assessed last year, the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) ranks Zimbabwe at 125 from 124 realised in 2014.
In 2013, Zimbabwe was ranked at 123.

Although local authorities believe that the country is not being rated fairly, Government has heightened efforts to make the local environment conducive for doing business.

The WEF defines competitiveness as a set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country.
GCI scores are calculated by drawing together country-level data covering 12 pillars of competitiveness namely institutions, infrastructure, macro-economic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication, and innovation.

Most importantly, the report notes that the most problematic factor for doing business in the country is access to funding, followed by policy instability, restrictive labour regulations, inadequate supply of infrastructure, inefficient Government bureaucracy and corruption in that order.

However, the country ranks better in terms of inflation, public health, innovation, crime and theft, tax regulations, Government stability and work ethic.

Among its peers in Sub-Saharan Africa, Zimbabwe ranks better than 11 countries: Mali is ranked 127; Swaziland 128; Liberia 129; Madagascar 130; Mozambique 133; Malawi 135; Burundi 136; Sierra Leone 137; Mauritania 138; Chad 139; and Guinea, which occupies the bottom of the rankings at 140.

Mauritius retained its tag as the most competitive economy on the continent, but it is ranked 46 out of the 140 economies.
It is followed by South Africa, which jumped seven places to 49 and Rwanda, which improved by one rung to 58.

Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA) chairperson Dr Nigel Chanakira said last week the country is targeting a top 100 ranking next year.
He noted that “real reforms” will be completed by December 31 this year.

“What we currently have are cosmetic reforms. Prior to these reforms in October last year, we focused on getting us re-rated. . . Even though we are not ranked fairly, it is irrelevant. We need to focus on reforms that improve our environment to do business. But we are also cognisant that as we improve, other countries will be improving as well. . .

“Cosmetic reforms are not enough; we need real reforms such as those that really reduce the time and expense of starting a business,” said Dr Chanakira.
He added that there are teams that are actively working on concrete reforms.
Exposure visits to Singapore and New Zealand have already been undertaken.

It is also understood that in the interim, the Office of the President and Cabinet is superintending over reform process until substantive legislation has been put in place.

The legislative agenda that was presented by President Robert Mugabe to the Third Session of the Eighth Parliament of Zimbabwe on September 15, 2015 prioritises economically-inclined legal interventions such as the ZIA Amendment Bill, the Special Economic Zones Bill and the Consumer Protection Bill, among others.

These Bills are all meant to improve the business environment.

Share This:

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds