African Development Bank (AfDB) Southern Africa regional development and business delivery office director-general Tonia Kandiero and Zimbabwe Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa have signed a $4-million grant agreement to support a State-owned enterprise (SoE) reform and delivery project, in Zimbabwe.
The project aims to build capacity with a view to strengthening the result-based management system within government and improve efficiency of SoEs and parastatals.
“Zimbabwe is committed to sound corporate governance and efforts to revive the country’s economy through improved service delivery, with special focus on integrated results management,” Kandiero said.
She noted that, historically, SoEs were a significant source of employment, as well as productive investment with up to 40% contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.
However, in recent years, their performance has dwindled, putting significant strain on the national budget.
“No profound change can take place in our member countries, including Zimbabwe, in the absence of effective institutions with good corporate structure, accountability, culture and mechanisms to track performance,” she noted.
Chinamasa, meanwhile, indicated that the project is in sync with the national economic blueprint, Zim-Asset, which falls under the public administration, governance and performance management subcluster.
“It also dovetails with the objective of the country’s Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy aimed at strengthening governance and institutional capacity for effective service delivery and combatting corruption,” he said.
The project will assist government in implementing reforms in public sector financial management and SoE governance.