Business Reporter
TOP economist cum accomplished banker and CEO at the Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF) Dr John Mangudya has vowed to turn around struggling state enterprises under the Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF) as a matter of urgency.
MIF formerly known as the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Zimbabwe is a Zimbabwean sovereign wealth fund formulated by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Act (Chapter 22:20). It was renamed after the re-election of Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa as the president of Zimbabwe, doing so by using Statutory Instrument 156 of 2023.
It is a state-owned investment fund established from the balance of payment surpluses, official foreign currency operations, the proceeds of privatisation, government transfer payments, fiscal surpluses and resource earnings from 20 paratstatal entities under its purview.
In a recent update, Dr Mangudya vowed to realign the State Enterprises on their past glory path while unlocking their long expected value.
“So we are saying we have put the wealth here under MIF; let’s sweat the wealth and put money into Zimbabwe for the people of Zimbabwe to enjoy it .NOIC like any other Oil Company of the nation should make more money.
“Petrotrade should compete with other private owned companies such as Total Energies and create value .The National Railways of Zimbabwe is a big company that needs to ensure that it provides the locomotives , the wagons and the services as opposed to its current status.
“So they have plenty of potentail. Cold Storage Company (CSC) needs to go back to its low hanging fruits and export,” he said.
Parastatals in Zimbabwe used to contribute about 40% to the GDP at their peak in the first two decades after independence in 1980.
However owing to embezzlement of funds ond ill corportate governance systems , the companies have gone under over the years with many operating in the red and bleeding the fiscus in the end.
Market watchers believe that their placement under MIF will go a long way to expeditiuosly address legacy challenges and avail smooth decisions thereby addressing bottlenecks characterised in the past when they were placed under government Ministries.
