Online Reporter
Judith Phiri [email protected]
THE Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, Professor Mthuli Ncube, has said Bulawayo remains the second-largest provincial economy in Zimbabwe, contributing approximately 12.9 percent of the national gross domestic product (GDP), with an estimated provincial GDP of about ZiG8.89 billion.
In a keynote address officially opening the Bulawayo Investment Indaba on Friday, he said, critically, it also has the highest business formality rate in the country.
“The business formality rate at 40.4 percent is a measure of the depth of its formal, taxable and productive base. The structure of that economy tells its own story. In 2024, wholesale, retail and motor trade contributed 17.98 percent of provincial output, manufacturing 17.44 percent and financial and insurance activities 15.30 percent.
“Bulawayo is not starting from scratch; it is starting from strength. Our task is to renew, modernise and reposition this powerhouse for the next generation. The question before us is, therefore, not whether Bulawayo has potential. It unquestionably does,” he said.
“The question is how quickly and effectively we convert that potential into productive investment and inclusive growth, through partnerships between Government, the private sector, financial institutions, local authorities, the diaspora and international investors.”
The Minister said investment decisions are made against a macroeconomic backdrop, and Zimbabwe’s has never been firmer in a generation.
He said the economy grew by 8.3 percent in 2025, one of the strongest performances on the continent.
“Growth in 2026 is projected at 5 percent, moderating off that high base but still above the regional average, anchored by firm mineral prices, a favourable agricultural season and the early dividends of our ease-of-doing-business reforms,” he added.
“Inflation has been brought into single digits for the first time in more than three decades, averaging 4 percent over the first eight months of 2026, down from a peak of 95.8 percent in July 2025. Currency, exchange rate and price stability have been maintained.”
Prof Ncube said this stability is underpinned by a strengthening external position, while foreign currency receipts rose by 47.8 percent to US$10.72 billion in the first half of 2026, supporting a stronger current account.
He said exports climbed to US$1.47 billion in July 2026 and imports moderated to US$1.15 billion, yielding a trade surplus of US$320.6 million, some 34.1 percent higher than in June.
“A country that exports more than it imports is a country building the reserves and the confidence on which durable investment rests. Beyond the numbers, our policy credibility is being independently validated.”
The Minister said the successful first review of the IMF Staff-Monitored Programme is anchoring the reform trajectory and reinforcing the broader re-engagement and debt-resolution agenda.
He said equally significant, the World Bank, effective 1 July 2026, reclassified Zimbabwe and removed the country from the Fragile, Conflict and Violence Countries List, while for investors that was not a bureaucratic footnote, it was a change in how the world prices Zimbabwe risk, and it opens doors to concessional finance and long-horizon capital that were previously closed.
Prof Ncube said single-digit inflation means a manufacturer in Bulawayo can quote a price today and honour it next month without watching value evaporate.
“It means a lender can price a loan over three years rather than three months; it means savings, at long last, retain their meaning. Price stability is the precondition for every investment decision made in this room.”
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