HOSPITALITY executive Tamuka Macheka has been elected new president of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), taking over from Securico Services founder, Divine Ndhlukula.

Macheka will be deputised by Victoria Falls-based transporter Ozias Marange.

In an interview with NewsDay on the sidelines of the ZNCC annual congress in Victoria Falls, Macheka said as a team they will engage government to have a common vision in terms of shaping the economy going forward.

“One of the things that we have actually seen which we need to be looking at is the involvement of ministers or permanent secretaries at our meetings because if you look at the presentation of BMI Research, that kind of information is very crucial even for parliamentarians and cabinet to be debating on because it talks about how as Zimbabwe or Sub-Saharan Africa we can move forward,” he said.

During the annual congress, BMI Research officials said there was need for the country to hold free and fair elections, saying failure to do that, investors would run away.

“So it will be really a pity if we are not going to be able to have them. So of my key strategies as I start my term is to engage government, to engage ministers and different ministries as well as permanent secretaries to have a common vision in terms of shaping the economy going forward,” he said.

“These are some of the issues that we would be talking about and obviously it is also to strengthen the capacity of ZNCC in terms of administration, advocacy and lobbying because our role is to really lobby and advocate for business.”

Macheka said the role of government was not to grow the economy but to provide an enabling environment.

“Businesses are the ones to grow the economy. So we will be focusing on issues that we would want the government to look at in terms of addressing the operating environment, ease of doing business, things like that,” he said.

Macheka has served as a general manager for many big hotels in Zimbabwe.

Currently he is running his own hospitality leisure and events business under Kestmer Investments. He is also the Zimbabwean partner for Vistra Group International, a company focusing on investment promotion into the region.

There are four deputy presidents in charge of regions. Manicaland region would be represented by Kenneth Saruchera, Tinashe Manzungu (Midlands), Mashonaland by Archifold Dongo (Mashonaland). Deputy president for Matabeleland was yet to be deliberated on.