PRESS STATEMENT BY MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT HON P.A. CHINAMASA, M.P.

There has been a lot of reporting over the past two weeks or so about Government’s intentions with regard to the proposed rationalisation of the State Enterprise and Parastatal sector announced by His Excellency the President during his Inaugural Address on 24 November, 2017, and repeated during the presentation to Parliament of the 2018 Budget Statement on 7 December, 2017.

Social media networks even carried a purported Media Release from the long defunct Privatisation Agency of Zimbabwe inviting investors to bid for shareholding in a wide range of State Enterprises, which, in turn gave rise to a raft of unhelpful speculative reporting.

For the sake of clarity, I can confirm that relevant agencies of Government, including the Office of the President and Cabinet, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the State Enterprises Restructuring Agency (SERA), in consultation with Line Ministries, are in the process of developing a proposal for comprehensive reform and rationalisation of the State Enterprise and Parastatal sector.

This proposal is being crafted on the basis of input requested from Line Ministries in respect of all State Entities falling under their respective purview, including evidence-based assessments of the current financial and performance status and potential future viability of each Entity together with recommended options for reform   –  which can include liquidation, privatisation, part-privatisation, engagement of strategic or joint venture partners or departmentalisation within the parent Line Ministry.

In cases where the Entity is of a critical strategic nature and must therefore remain under Government control or with a majority Government shareholding, the Line Ministry has been directed to develop credible proposals for effective turn-around of the Entity.

This proposal will be consolidated into a Memorandum which will be brought to Cabinet for consideration and guidance prior to implementation.

It goes without saying that once the principle of the proposed reform in respect of each Entity has been approved by Cabinet, the relevant Line Ministry will be required to develop, within a specified timeframe, a detailed implementation matrix and to drive that implementation programme as per agreed timelines.

The flurry of media coverage and speculative reporting which followed-upon the dissemination of a false Media Release from a non-existent State Agency, although misleading and unhelpful, has generated expressions of interest from a wide range of potential investors, joint venture partners and/or strategic partners in respect of a number of our State Entities.

This is most welcome and reflects the growing confidence shown both from within the country and from beyond our borders in our new political leadership, its intense focus on the economy and its collective determination to restore our country to a path of sustainable economic growth and development.

Pending finalisation of the consolidated proposed reform programme and its submission to Cabinet, and so as not to discourage or disappoint those within Zimbabwe and without who are genuinely interested in supporting or participating in the reform process and in investigating potential investment opportunities as Government moves to rationalise the State Enterprise and Parastatal sector, I would request such interested parties to direct their expressions of interest to the relevant Line Ministry for initial consideration and evaluation.

Thereafter, the Line Ministry, in collaboration with my Ministry and the aforementioned agencies of Government, will work together to ensure that, where appropriate, those expressions of interest are factored into the reform path and options identified for the Entity/ies concerned.

HON P.A. CHINAMASA, MP

MINISTER OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Harare

20^th January 2018