Zim economy needs innovative thinking — research body

via Zim economy needs innovative thinking — research body – NewsDay Zimbabwe August 17, 2015

THE current economic situation in Zimbabwe is calling for innovative and strategic thinking more than anything else, a leading socio-economic research and advisory services organisation has said.

BY MTHANDAZO NYONI

Zimbabwe’s economy is in distress with Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa recently lowering economic growth projections to 1,5% from the initial 3,2%, citing drought which lowered agriculture output by 8,2%.

However, the World Bank has said the economy will grow by 1%.

In an interview with NewsDay on Friday, Innotec administrator Nompumelelo Bhebhe said her organisation would hold an exclusive social business networking event — the Executives Night Out — on Thursday at a Bulawayo hotel to map the way forward on how companies can survive under such an economic environment.

According to her, the objective of the event was to give Bulawayo businesses, authorities and regulators an opportunity to network among themselves in the hope of increasing local business activity.

“The current economic situation calls for innovative thinking and we believe this event will help organisations with enhanced exposure through our ‘90-second pitch’ opportunities, where participants are given one-and-a-half minutes to promote their businesses, in addition to other marketing packages,” Bhebhe said.

“This event will help companies whose marketing budgets have been significantly reduced with a very cheap but effective way of marketing.”

She added that they were also intending to use the platform to encourage companies to buy locally, that is, from other Bulawayo companies “so that the local industry can be revived”.

Bhebhe said they have invited industry captains, company executives from chief executives officers to sales executives and “we expect at least a hundred people to attend the event”.

“We have organisations such as Zimbabwe National Water Authority and NetOne among others having already registered for the event. We are also inviting the city and provincial leadership,” she said.

She said they are going to host a similar event in other places such as Victoria Falls, Mutare and Gweru.

“We are hoping to make it a quarterly event,” she said.

The country’s economy is suffering from chronic power shortages and lack of foreign investment, while companies are shedding workers as they struggle to pay salaries, fueled by a July 17 Supreme Court ruling that lets them cut jobs on a three months’ notice without the severance costs.

Innotec is a leading socio-economic research and advisory services organisation working with the best brains from across the globe to research, debate and provide practical and sustainable solutions to challenges facing the greater African society.

It was incorporated in 2003 in Zimbabwe and has taken several steps towards attaining its goal of being rated among the finest information centres with a global reach.