Jean (29) is a peanut butter manufacturer in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. Unemployed, she started producing peanut butter as a business this year for the first time. AEDS is working with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Enterprise Development to create a local content policy that will facilitate a conducive domestic market for locally produced goods, stimulate jobs and save foreign currency.

Peanut butter manufacturing in Harare ‘Since the Ministry restricted imports, I noticed a gap in the peanut butter market. Zimbabwean peanut butter is of excellent quality, highly nutritious and palatable to the domestic market’s taste buds. The problem was cost. In Zimbabwe, it costs a lot to manufacture anything which meant it was unviable for me to run a business of this nature in the past. My peanut butter would have been more expensive than imported peanut butter and since consumers do not have a lot of money, I would not have been able to attract local consumers to my product. However, I took advantage of the prevailing foreign currency shortages which created a gap in the supply of foreign produced peanut butter, and have also resulted in foreign peanut butter now being very expensive on the domestic market. I am now producing peanut butter to meet that gap and because the demand created is quite big, I am able to meet economies of scale so my unit costs are low and I can price my peanut butter competitively on the domestic market. I’m happy because I haven’t been gainfully employed since I graduated 9 years ago, but in a short space of time, I have a job, I’m starting to get a small income, and next year I will need to hire some help to keep up with the orders. I participated in the local content research, and the way I understand it I think it is a great policy, it puts Zimbabweans back to work and that’s fantastic.’

The Local Content Policy aims to stimulate jobs, safeguard the positive developments that have been experienced by manufacturers and producers over the last 18 months and regularise Zimbabwe’s compliance to World Trade Organisation commitments.

AEDS is supporting the Ministry to implement an evidence based, co-creative approach to develop the policy, so as to ensure buy-in of private sector, joint ownership in the policy’s implementation and strengthened partnership between the public and private sector as Zimbabwe seeks to rebuild it’s economy and get its citizens working again.

Jean (29) is a peanut butter manufacturer in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. Unemployed, she started producing peanut butter as a business this year for the first time. AEDS is working with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Enterprise Development to create a local content policy that will facilitate a conducive domestic market for locally produced goods, stimulate jobs and save foreign currency.

Peanut butter manufacturing in Harare ‘Since the Ministry restricted imports, I noticed a gap in the peanut butter market. Zimbabwean peanut butter is of excellent quality, highly nutritious and palatable to the domestic market’s taste buds. The problem was cost. In Zimbabwe, it costs a lot to manufacture anything which meant it was unviable for me to run a business of this nature in the past. My peanut butter would have been more expensive than imported peanut butter and since consumers do not have a lot of money, I would not have been able to attract local consumers to my product. However, I took advantage of the prevailing foreign currency shortages which created a gap in the supply of foreign produced peanut butter, and have also resulted in foreign peanut butter now being very expensive on the domestic market. I am now producing peanut butter to meet that gap and because the demand created is quite big, I am able to meet economies of scale so my unit costs are low and I can price my peanut butter competitively on the domestic market. I’m happy because I haven’t been gainfully employed since I graduated 9 years ago, but in a short space of time, I have a job, I’m starting to get a small income, and next year I will need to hire some help to keep up with the orders. I participated in the local content research, and the way I understand it I think it is a great policy, it puts Zimbabweans back to work and that’s fantastic.’

The Local Content Policy aims to stimulate jobs, safeguard the positive developments that have been experienced by manufacturers and producers over the last 18 months and regularise Zimbabwe’s compliance to World Trade Organisation commitments.

AEDS is supporting the Ministry to implement an evidence based, co-creative approach to develop the policy, so as to ensure buy-in of private sector, joint ownership in the policy’s implementation and strengthened partnership between the public and private sector as Zimbabwe seeks to rebuild it’s economy and get its citizens working again.

AEDS, Took Stock of the Public Private Sector Partnership in Zimbabwe, Reviewed the Current status of Zimbabwe’s Infrastructure with Special Focus on Water & Sanitation, Transportation, Energy & Information Communication Technologies, Identified the Missing Link, Developed Strategies to Address Challenges Facing the Infrastructures, Showcased the Role of the Private Sector in its Rehabilitation and set a Clear Plan of Action in the Context of PPPs & Drew Policy Briefs. This Work was financed by International Council of Swedish Industries (NIR Sweden) and coordinated by Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, October 2011 – March 2012, Harare, Zimbabwe