The Sunday Mail
GOVERNMENT is now in the final stages of concluding the implementation of the Zisco deal with Hong Kong-based company R&F as it seeks to revive the former steel manufacturing giant to make it a net exporter.
Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Mike Bimha told exporters at a ZimTrade annual exporters’ conference that key components of the agreements had already been signed with R&F and they will soon revert back to the market with the full details of the deal as well as other operational details.
When fully operational, Dr Bimha said, Zisco will narrow the trade deficit by $350 million per year after cutting down on steel products imports.
The company is also expected to be the single largest foreign currency earner with annual exports of $1 billion projected.
Currently, minerals and tobacco contribute over 80 percent of the country’s total export earnings while manufactured products and services each contribute less than 10 percent.
“We have finalised the deal with the investor, R&F, a company from Hong Kong who are not into steel-making but are providing capital.
“We are now in the process of finalising the implementation strategies for the company. We have already signed the agreement and very soon we should provide information on the full agreement,” said Dr Bimha.
Revival of Zisco is also expected to boost other firms like coal miner Hwange as well as the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ)’s business as a significant part of its business involved transporting coal to Zisco.
He said Government was fully committed to the revival of the steelmaker which folded operations in 2008, given its potential to contribute towards the country’s economic turnaround.
Zisco was once Africa’s biggest integrated steel manufacturer and anchored the economic activity in the Midlands Province as well as other downstream industries in the manufacturing sector across the country.
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Efforts have been made before to revive Zisco with India’s Essar Group agreeing to buy 54 percent of the firm in November 2011 in a deal worth $750 million.
The deal, however, failed to sail through and collapsed in 2015 on disagreements over mineral claims.
Meanwhile, Dr Bimha said Government and other stakeholders were in the process of formulating the new industrial, trade and export policies that are meant to drive Zimbabwe’s export-led industrialisation agenda.
This is also expected to enhance the country’s exports and narrow the current trade deficit estimated at $1, 3 billion.
“The trade deficit that we have experienced over the years, which currently stands at over $1, 3 billion, demands that exports grow at a much higher rate than imports if the country is to sustain the balance of payments.
“Exports have continued to sustain the economy of Zimbabwe over the years, contributing more than 60 percent of the country’s foreign currency earnings,” he said.
He, however, told exporters to improve on the competitiveness of their products and services to meet international best practice.
This year’s annual exporters’ conference was held under the theme “Building Synergised Pillars for Export Competitiveness”.
