Underdevelopment blamed as prices shoot through the roof
Sibongile Dube
Underdevelopment in Matabeleland North has contributed immensely to ever-rising prices of basic commodities, an expert and small business owners operating in the province have claimed.
A Hwange based business expert, Peterson Ncube said the province was literally paying a high price for lack of manufacturing companies.“The province is generally poor when it comes to producing for own consumption. Most of the consumer price index components are shipped in from other provinces. This makes us a price taking province. We do not have our own products with which to hedge ourselves against price escalations,” said Ncube.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure that examines the weighted average of prices of a basket of consumer goods and services such as transportation, food, and medical care.
According to Zimbabwe National Statistics (ZimStats) the month to month inflation rate from May 2021 was at 1.9 but in May 22 the inflation rate is sitting at 16.2.
“We have the land, we have the water (Zambezi, Gwayi and other rivers), we have the skills but we haven’t got the will power that the North Africans have in their Great Green Wall vision that spans 7775km. To date Mat North depends on other provinces for such everyday life needs like mealie-meal, bread, sugar, beans and cooking oil,” bemoaned Ncube.
Rodrick Hwaire a Hwange based businessman who runs grocery shops in the mining town said the inflation rate has adversely affected his business operations.
“The inflation rate in this place is too high. This is so because we (retailers) are forced to peg our prices higher because we buy our products in Bulawayo and Harare. No production happens here for example, Delta Beverages in Hwange is just a depot, no manufacturing is done at the station, hence products such as Mahewu are bought from other provinces.
The other contributing factor is that we buy our foreign products through runners (middlemen), thereby putting a substantive mark up on our goods.
Mildred Ncube who also runs a tuckshop in Dete said selling basic commodities is risky business for traders like her in remote areas as they buy products from retail shops in Hwange.
“I buy my products from OK or TM. The only wholesaler available is Gain but it lacks variety in products. We are therefore forced to raise our prices higher so that we can make some profit,” said.
According to ZimStats, the Matabeland North Province year on year inflation rate for the Month of May stood at 116 .6 percent between May 2021-May 2022.
“This means all items CPI increased by an average rate of 19.6 percent from May 2022 gaining 40 percent points on the April 2022 of 15.9 percent. The month-on-month Food and Non Alcoholic Beverages inflation rate stood at 12.1 percent in April 2022, gaining 1.0. percentage points on the April 2022 rate of 11.5 percent. The month-on-month non-food inflation rate stood at 19.1 percent, gaining 4.3 percentage points on the April 2022 rate of 13.6percent,” reads the ZimStats statement.
With a population of 749,017 as of the 2012 census and annual growth rate of 1.5%, the province is the country’s second-least populous province, after Matabeleland South, and is the country’s least densely populated province.
