The Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa (SRO-SA) will hold a meeting to validate the Report on the Development of Local Content Thresholds for the Fertiliser, Packaging, and Pharmaceutical Sub-Sectors at Holiday Inn in Harare on 24 February 2023.

In support of industrialization and industrial growth, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is developing local content thresholds (LCTs) across all economic sectors, in accordance with the Zimbabwe National Industrial Development Policy (ZNIDP) (2019-2023). The establishment of these thresholds will boost investment, value chain development, value addition, and beneficiation in line with the National Development Strategy (NDS) 1 (2021-2025). Emphasis will be on the procurement of local products and inputs based on specific metrics to support industrial development and intensify economic sector linkages.

The meeting, to be attended by key stakeholders in the three sub sectors, aims to review and validate the findings and recommendations of the local content thresholds study for completeness and amenability to implementation. Specifically, the review is focused on the adequacy of the methodology used to gather information on the three sub-sectors, the recommendations proffered and the feasibility of attaining and sustaining the local content thresholds.

The findings of the study aim to align the Local Content Thresholds with the overall thrust of NDS1 and other frameworks supporting industrialization and local content in Zimbabwe. The proposed framework for the implementation of the thresholds will be interrogated for practicality, reasonableness, and sustainability. This will help to address any gaps and/or misrepresentations in the study and provide a template that can guide implementation of local content strategies in the three sectors.