Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) says the country’s quest to attain an upper-middle-income economy status by 2030 hinges on deep structural reforms, revealing that policy engagement dominated its work between January to June.
The call comes amid revelations that Zimbabwe may well be off track in reaching its goal of an upper middle-income economy status by 2030, amid rising informational.
Informalisation has now reached 76,1% of all economic activity, according to the latest official statistics.
Economists warn that such high levels of informalisation erode the tax base, limit productive investment and weaken institutional capacity, making it difficult to sustain the growth, stability and competitiveness needed for upper-middle-income status.
Without structural reforms to formalise businesses, improve governance and attract long-term capital, the 2030 target risks remaining a political aspiration rather than an achievable milestone.
“Our findings show that developing complexity in Zimbabwe’s economy is a long-term task that relies on key structural conditions,” CZI said in its latest industry newsletter.
“Macro-economic stability is a prerequisite. It enables long-term planning, investment and credit growth; ease of doing business is necessary to support industrial development; processes must be efficient, and the regulatory environment must be predictable.
“Competitiveness is a prerequisite. A reduction in the regulatory and tax burden makes for a profitable environment by reducing the cost of doing business; Intellectual property protection is essential. It encourages innovation and secures investment in research and production.”
CZI said local manufacturing depth must be prioritised.
“The first half of the year concluded with a total of 260 stakeholder engagements. Of these, 41% were policy-related, including formal consultations, direct lobbying, regulatory accompaniment for members, and participation in national and sectoral policy forums,” CZI said.
“A further 24% were multilateral engagements, while 20% fell under other categories such as institutional visits and general stakeholder interactions. Regional and international events made up the remaining 7%.”
CZI said Zimbabwe needed value chains that covered the full spectrum from input to the finished product.
“We call this ‘Manufacturing for Manufacturing’, our call to deepen and rebuild broken value chains to achieve higher local content thresholds. Our consistent focus on formal business is based on these practical considerations,” CZI said.
“Formalisation supports traceability, access to finance, compliance with standards, and readiness for export markets. It does not ignore the informal sector but reflects the reality that the growth of complex/sophisticated industries occurs within formal economic systems.”
As the National Development Strategy (NDS) 2 economic blueprint is being finalised by the Treasury, CZI encouraged all stakeholders to remain focused on the fundamentals.
NDS 2 is envisioned to be the economic blueprint in Zimbabwe, achieving its upper-middle-income status by 2030.
“Industrialisation is necessary for sustainable economic growth and complexity/sophistication must be the goal if we are to achieve economic structural transformation,” CZI said.
“This puts industrialisation at the very core of the NDS 2 and the Vision 2030; it cannot be achieved without industrial transformation. A clear, coordinated approach will be required to deliver the kind of structural transformation Zimbabwe needs by 2030.”
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