The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nqobizitha Ndhlovu, said Community Economic Empowerment Trusts (CEETs) are central to Zimbabwe’s industrialisation and Vision 2030 agenda.
In his address yesterday at the Community Economic Empowerment Trust Boards Commissioning and Induction Conference held in Kadoma, the Minister emphasised that CEETs are designed to shift economic control to local communities and unlock value from indigenous resources.
“CEETs are not charitable projects, but are key economic drivers towards Vision 2030. They are meant to place economic self-determination in the hands of communities, empowering them to harness local resources, create sustainable wealth and improve livelihoods,” the Minister said.
He said the success of the programme depends on a clear understanding that communities are not passive beneficiaries but active participants in production, value addition and wealth creation.
“We are building a system where communities take ownership of their economic destiny. These trusts must be engines of production, not structures of dependency,” Minister Ndlovu added.
Minister Ndhlovu further outlined four key pillars guiding the implementation of CEETs, which he said are critical to achieving inclusive and sustainable economic transformation.
“The framework is anchored on four pillars: true local ownership, broad-based participation, industrial localisation and economic sovereignty.
“These pillars ensure that communities become active drivers of Zimbabwe’s economic transformation rather than spectators in their own development,” he added.
He explained that true local ownership is aimed at ensuring that communities directly benefit from resources within their localities, while broad-based participation seeks to include all social groups in economic activity.
“Industrial localisation, is intended to promote the establishment of value addition and processing industries at community level in order to reduce raw material exportation and stimulate local employment creation.
Economic sovereignty, remains the ultimate objective of the programme enabling communities and the nation at large to control and maximise the benefits of their natural and economic resources,” Minister Ndlovu added.
The Minister said CEETs represent a practical mechanism for achieving equitable development.
“CEETs present a pragmatic way to achieving equatable development and reducing economic disparities between urban and rural communities, adding that they are aligned with the broader national vision of achieving an upper-middle-income economy by 2030,” he noted.
The conference in Kadoma brought together representatives from various Community Economic Empowerment Trusts across the country, as government intensifies efforts to operationalise community-driven economic models aimed at accelerating inclusive growth and industrial development.
