By Beverly Bizeki
Local authorities in the country have been urged to support young businesses by considering initiatives by women and youth when doing public procurement as the country moves towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals at local level.
Speaking at a local authorities’ conference held at Clever’s Resort in Masvingo, Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) Chief Executive Officer Clever Ruswa said local authorities needed to create space for procuring from young people to help them grow and avoid ‘tenderpreneurship,’ a case in which the same old businesses get tenders.
“The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act talks about domestic preference which is supported by section 8 of our regulation stating that there are categories which need to be considered including female-owned businesses as they were previously disadvantaged and youths.
“As youths are coming out of tertiary institutions under the Education 5.0 model so, they must be allowed to grow and this can only happen when they are supported. If they are not supported and people only go for their three quotations to established ranks and all they are not supported,” said Ruswa.
He also said local authorities need to support youth initiatives through innovative hubs at tertiary institutions.
“Local authorities need to support tertiary institutions because of the Innovation hubs where they are coming up with patents, as they register patents, we are also propping up Zimbabwe and companies under the indigenization act so it is already given under our act,” said Ruswa.
“We are aiming at imploring our colleagues to implement the law. If you are to talk to the youth and women-owned SMEs, they would think there are no policies that support them yet they are there and its only people who are not implementing the policies for other reasons that’s why we are insisting on local authorities and Rural District Councils to support these initiatives because geographically they represent the whole country,” said Ruswa.
Ruswa also said PRAZ to remedy this would through its Monitoring and Evaluation, come up with a framework to monitor the local authorities’ engagement with the said groups.
“Through our Monitoring and Evaluation, we are going to have a framework to monitor what kind of business and volume they would have given to the youth, and at the end of the year we come up with a scoring on policy implementation,” said Ruswa.
The meeting which brought together all 92 local authorities across the country was themed ‘Public Procurement and Sustainable Development Goals in Local Authorities: Opportunities Towards 2030,’ to reflect on the transformative power of procurement in driving positive change within communities.
Permanent Secretary in the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Dr Addmore Pazvakavambwa who was representing Masvingo Minister of State Ezra Chadzamira echoed Ruswa’s sentiments and said sustainable procurement supports local businesses and promotes innovation.
“Through sustainable procurement, we are not only reducing our environmental footprint but also supporting local businesses and promoting innovation. By prioritizing environmentally friendly products and services, we contribute to the growth of a sustainable market and encourage businesses to adopt eco-friendly practices. This, in turn, creates new opportunities for entrepreneurship, creates jobs, and strengthens our local economy,” said Dr Pazvakavambwa.
