Zimbabwean State Enterprises Minister Gorden Moyo said Tuesday that his ministry plans to revive or restructure state-operated enterprises ranging from the moribund Grain Marketing Board to the mobile provider NetOne.
Other state enterprises to be revamped include the perennially disfunctional Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe, the the Cold Storage Company, the National Railways of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (now seeking a strategic partner) Air Zimbabwe and fixed-line operator TelOne.
Many of the state-controlled business, though not all, are financially distressed and heavily indebted following years of mismanagement and, according to most economists familiar with their histories, pervasive corruption.
Moyo told VOA Studio 7 reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that despite this grim picture, public entities are important as they account for about 40 percent of gross domestic product and provide employment to many Zimbabweans.
