By Gracious Nyathi
Bulawayo City Council has cited the laws which require the engagement and approval of potential partners by the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) as a hinderance to its progress in making business partnerships.
Moreover, applications for partnerships have to be done through ZIDA before any engagements and work commence.
The Town Clerk highlighted that the mandatory need for ZIDA’s approval is time consuming and leads to loss of business and massive delays through the application process.
ZIDA has already stalled BCC’s solar projects by delaying approvals for prospective contractors and partners.
BCC intends to embark on a scheme to introduce solar farms to mitigate against Bulawayo’s power outages.
Earlier this year nine companies were reportedly vying for partnership with BCC in the solar project but ZIDA delayed with responses and the project failed to take-off.