The Sunday Mail
ZIMBABWE must continue repaying debts to normalise relations with international financiers in order to unlock additional resources and goodwill from its partners, Small Business Advisory Council chair Mr Basil Nyabadza said last week.
The country has an unfavourable credit rating that has partly hindered access to fresh and cheap money critical for business and economic development.
“We urge Government to pay back what we owe and restore relations . . . Iranians have good intentions and are willing to help us, but we need to meet our end of the bargain,” Mr Badza told a meeting of Zimbabwean and Iranian SMEs in Harare on October 29.
Government, through the SMEs and Co-operatives Development Ministry, recently led a delegation of small and medium businesses to Iran’s capital, Tehran. The delegation identified possible areas of co-operation in agriculture, manufacturing and construction.
Iranian SMEs are expected to reciprocate Minister Sithembiso Nyoni’s visit in February for joint venture explorations.
A Zimbabwe-Iran committee will subsequently be established to facilitate further engagement and follow up on agreed plans.
“If these deals are to be fruitful, we must make sure we pay what we owe. You cannot continue going to a neighbour borrowing without paying back. The neighbour will get fed up,” said Mr Nyabadza.
Iran has maintained active economic and trade relations with Zimbabwe at a time the European Union and the United States slapped sanctions on Harare.
Iran is financing establishment of a US$5 million tractor manufacturing plant in Harare’s Willowvale industrial area, a project that has stalled for some time now.
Minister Nyoni said her delegation to Iran had learnt a lot about agriculture, jewellery, food processing, mining, timber and forestry.
“There are a lot of business people willing to do business ventures with Zimbabwe.
“The SMEs community is growing and they have realised that remaining informal will not help, so on our formalisation programme we are encouraging them to do joint ventures.
“South Africa has asked to bring their people here to do joint ventures; a lot of people have realised that SMEs in Zimbabwe are sustainable and are serious business people,” said Minister Nyoni.
Iran’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Mohammed Amin Nejad said there was scope for greater bilateral co-operation.
“It’s an important chapter for Zimbabwe and Iranians, with a clear agenda on the Zimbabwe economy, with the necessity of rebuilding the national economy which is based on indigenous empowerment and sufficiency. We hope the outcome of these initiatives will be the brainstorming of the capacity building (sic),” he said.
The delegation that visited Iran also said Zimbabwe could benefit from the technological expertise wielded by Tehran.
Iran has been under sanctions for longer than Zimbabwe, with the first embargo introduced after the 1979 Revolution yet it has been doing well industrially, buttressed by a flourishing SME sector.
Iran has approximately 32 million small businesses, which are organised into over 300 clusters.
“There are a lot of opportunities in Iran because of its population; it’s a big market of 77 million people. We could tap into that market by producing cigarettes and exporting them there,” said Mr Innocent Mahufe, who farms tobacco.
Another entrepreneur, Mrs Elizabeth Chakudunga, said Zimbabweans could use the co-operatives approach used in Iran, where resources are pooled to grow small businesses.
Government formed the Small Business Advisory Council earlier this year to advise the State, local authorities and statutory bodies on issues relating to SMEs and assisting in their formalisation, among other duties.
