THE MOVE by the Bulawayo City Council to offer potential investors land at concessionary rates as part of some incentives shows that the local authority is prepared to think outside the box in the face of adversity.
Bulawayo, once the country’s industrial hub, has been facing severe economic challenges for over a decade, mirroring the general malaise in Zimbabwe.
The city has also seen a number of companies relocating to other towns and cities citing various reasons.
Bulawayo mayor Martin Moyo rightly notes that investors would consider a lot of things before deciding to bring their investment to the city.
The city already has a number of industries that were abandoned by their owners due to the harsh economic environment.
This could be an indication that expensive land may not be a big factor behind the depressed investment.
However, this does not make the incentive to provide land at concessionary rates as proposed by the city council useless.
Moyo indicated that the local authority will soon hold meetings with company executives and potential investors to pave the way forward in reviving the city’s industries.
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It is our hope that such consultations would yield more innovative ways for the council to turn the city into a favourite destination for investors once again.
Council has also come up with a policy to purchase products produced by local companies as a way of keeping industry afloat.
The initiative to spur investment is in the council’s interest because lack of economic activity has a lot of implications on its capacity to provide services to residents.
As a result of disinvestment, Bulawayo suffers from lack of employment, which in turn affects residents’ ability to pay for services that council provides.
Moyo’s council should be applauded for realising that investment promotion cannot be left to the government or other lobby groups, but that it is at the core of its mandate.
Bulawayo still has all the attractive features, such as being the hub of a regional transport network that made it such a magnet for investors.
Council only needs to publicise its incentives while working on more measures to make the city investor friendly.
