‘Resolve ease of doing business issues’

THE Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce’s (ZNCC) launched its inaugural State of Industry and Commerce Survey last month in partnership with The Financial Gazette and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. ZNCC vice president Mike Kamungeremu (MK) speaks to our Senior Staff Writer Farai Mabeza (FM) to explain the thinking behind the survey, its outcomes and how it’s going to inform the chamber’s activities going forward.

FM: Congratulations on the successful launch of the ZNCC Inaugural State of Industry and Commerce Survey 2021. What is the significance of this survey to the business sector?
MK: Monitoring developments and growth of the business sector is key to informing policy making in Zimbabwe. Industry and commerce play a critical role in the development of a nation. The State of Industry and Commerce survey is a response to a clarion call by stakeholders to provide a conceptual review of the whole economy as opposed to partial, sector-specific undertakings. As you are aware, ZNCC’s membership cuts across all sectors of the economy and as such, our initiatives are inclusive in their orientation. Furthermore, this initiative is predicated on our strategic focus on evidence-based lobbying and advocacy. With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated recurrent lockdown restrictions, the country’s economic activities have been largely s