BULAWAYO – Bulawayo mayor David Coltart has pledged to speed up council approvals and review business regulations after the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) presented a report alleging that bureaucratic delays, high compliance costs and poor service delivery are discouraging investment in the city.
The report, presented to council management Tuesday, paints a bleak picture of the city’s business environment, with respondents citing lengthy building plan approvals, licensing delays, high municipal charges, poor infrastructure and inefficient administrative processes as major obstacles to investment.
Speaking to ZimLive after meeting ZNCC representatives, Coltart said the council had welcomed the report and would study its findings before adopting an official position.
“Yesterday, we had an exceptionally constructive meeting with the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce when their report was tabled before management and myself. Having read the document, I’m impressed by its detail,” Coltart said.
He said council management would spend the next two weeks examining the report before presenting its findings to councillors, with a joint response expected to be discussed with the ZNCC during a meeting in the first week of August.
Coltart, however, stopped short of accepting the report’s conclusion that council inefficiencies are pushing investors away.
“It is premature to state at this juncture whether council inefficiencies are driving investors away,” he said.
“The city works in the context of the national environment which has not managed to attract substantial investment outside of the extractive sector.”
Even so, Coltart acknowledged there was room for improvement and said the council would implement reforms where shortcomings are identified.
“We’ll study it in detail and if we believe there are areas in which the council has been found wanting, we will endeavour to enact policies and new procedures to address some of the issues raised,” he said.
He also sought to reassure the business community that the council was committed to improving the speed of approvals.
“I can give an absolute assurance to existing businesses that we will take this report seriously and will do all in our power to ensure that approvals are expedited within the current framework of the existing laws and policies of the Bulawayo City Council.”
The ZNCC report says more than 70 percent of surveyed businesses experienced licensing delays, while over 80 percent said council regulations had negatively affected investment decisions. Respondents identified reducing approval timelines, lowering compliance costs, digitising council processes, and improving transparency as their top reform priorities.
Businesses also complained that some building plan approvals take more than six months, with lost paperwork, manual systems, and poor communication, forcing some investors to abandon projects or relocate elsewhere.
Coltart said businesses attending the meeting had made it clear they were not seeking the removal of regulations but more efficient administration.
“The rule of law must prevail in the city, and what is being proposed is not the waiving of existing regulations but the adoption of measures which can make them more efficient,” he said.
He added: “I am completely committed to making Bulawayo the most attractive investment destination in Zimbabwe and we will do everything in our power to take on board the constructive suggestions made to ensure that this goal is achieved.”
