BY MTHANDAZO NYONI THE Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) says business is being side-lined by policymakers, who are pursuing pro-poor policies for political expedience ahead of the 2023 polls.
“Election headwinds are filtering into business activities as the country prepares for the 2023 general elections and businesses’ concerns are being side-lined as the policymakers pursue pro-poor policies to gain election mileage,” ZNCC’s immediate past president Tinashe Manzungu said in the organisation’s 2021-2022 annual report, presented at the ZNCC’s recent annual conference.
“The ‘political business cycle’ is not in industry and commerce’s favour during the next one-and-half years. In this regard, the theme is well-placed for the chamber, its membership, and the business community at large to devise ways to bolster resilience and innovativeness to weather the storms.”
Manzungu said inflationary pressures, power and foreign exchange challenges were among perennial challenges for the smooth running of business operations.
ZNCC chief executive officer Christopher Mugaga said the second half of 2022 would be gloomy as a result of high-level uncertainty as a result of drastic policy announcements by the government and the build-up to the 2023 general elections as “we navigate the torrid policy landscape”.
“One can actually conclude that we as a country have been consistent at being inconsistent and it is slowly becoming a norm,” he said.
Researchers at one of Zimbabwe’s leading investment advisories recently said ahead of the 2023 presidential elections, the stakes were high and most of the damage would be felt in the economy.
“We contend that it is a year in which politics will have a strong impact on the economic direction of the country as we approach an electioneering period,” Morgan & Co said in its report titled Zimbabwe 2022 Economic Outlook: Assessing the Probable Outcomes.
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“As we approach an election year in 2023, the big risk is that politics will be the centre of attention and some damage will be felt in the local economy. We expect to see increased liquidity injections by the government to fund various projects given the forthcoming 2023 elections,” the researchers said.
An analysis of past events in Zimbabwe indicates that the country is most likely going to experience heightened levels of political violence in 2022 ahead of the elections. Political violence towards and during polls has always been a big issue.
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