Government has given under-performing State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and parastatals it has earmarked for disposal — among them NetOne, TelOne and People’s Own Savings Bank (POSB) — between six and nine months to conclude privatisation deals, a Cabinet minister has said.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube told delegates at Chatham House in London where he gave a presentation on the ongoing reforms in Zimbabwe yesterday that Government was serious about privatisation of SOEs.

Minister Ncube said the Government spent half a billion dollars supporting struggling SOEs and parastatals over the last two years, as the perennial loss-making entities continued to drain public funds.

“Think, last year we spent $500 million supporting enterprises that are struggling,” Minister Ncube told the delegates.

The entities used to contribute 40 percent to the economy, but poor management, corruption and weak governance systems have seen them run down with contribution to the economy plummeting to just two percent.

Last year, 38 out of 93 State-owned enterprises audited in 2016 incurred a combined loss of $270 million as weak corporate governance practices and ineffective control mechanisms took their toll.

“We need to move fast, we want to privatise 11 enterprises quickly, I have given some of them six months just to get on with it and six subsidiaries of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC); also those should be privatised, we are merging 11 (state owned) entities,” said Minister Ncube.

“Between the next six to nine months, I want to see progress and conclusion of some privatisation deals.”

Minister Ncube said those that need to be liquidated will go under the hummer, with already three targeted for dissolution, while a further seven State-owned entities will be departmentalised into line ministries.

-State Media