VICE-PRESIDENT Constantino Chiwenga yesterday challenged industry and commerce to partner universities to drive research initiatives that stimulate the country’s re-industrialisation.
Chiwenga made the remarks during the International Business Conference held at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF).
The conference was attended by government officials, policy-makers, academics and industry experts.
“To strengthen the innovation ecosystem, I urge the private sector to deepen collaboration with academics and research institutions in commercialising science-based innovations,” Chiwenga said.
“It is not the academia which must go to industry, actually it must be vice-versa.
“Industry, the manufacturing sector, must go to our researchers, to our institutions of tertiary education and say we are producing 10 pieces of equipment, we want to accelerate them to 100, can you give us a solution and then fund those researchers as private sector because you are the beneficiaries.”
Chiwenga called for home-grown solutions to drive industry capacity utilisation to address the country’s economic challenges.
Reports indicate capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector stands at almost 50% up from around 36% in 2019.
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“While this marks significant progress, government is committed to implementing policies that promote more import substitution, research and development, commercialisation of research patterns, local content development and suppression of counterfeit goods. These policies aim to deepen value chain integration and increase industrial output,” the Vice-President said.
“Additionally, the establishment of a revolving industrial fund will provide critical support to distressed companies. This initiative is expected to stimulate renewed investment across sectors such as agro-processing, steel manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.”
In a related matter, this year’s ZITF Innovators Forum recorded an increase in the number universities participating at the annual event.
ZB Financial Holdings, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe and TelOne partnered for a roundtable discussion under the theme Catalysing Industrial Growth through Collaborative Innovation.
“Over the years, there has been a gradual increase in terms of participation,” Elevate Trust representative Kesani Majoko said.
“We have had more universities that are not your usual University of Zimbabwe, Chinhoyi University of Technology, National University of Science and Technology coming up.”
ZB Financial Holdings executive head of innovation, Patrick Maseko, urged support for innovation.
“Innovation in and of itself can be anything, which is what we want to really encourage, because the minute we start thinking about AI, digital and technology, it then excludes certain segments of the economy and certain individuals that can innovate,” he said.
