Online Reporter
Nqobile Bhebhe, [email protected]
THE Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) has expressed concern over Bulawayo’s preparedness to fully capitalise on opportunities arising under the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) framework, citing unresolved ease-of-doing-business challenges that could undermine the city’s industrialisation agenda.
The ZNCC Bulawayo chapter identified persistent regulatory and administrative bottlenecks as potential obstacles to the city’s economic growth and investment attraction efforts during the NDS2 period from 2026 to 2030.
The concerns are contained in the chamber’s Improving the Ease of Doing Business in Bulawayo Report dated June 22, 2026, which was recently submitted to the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) following an extensive survey of businesses operating in the city.
Bulawayo Mayor Councillor David Coltart and senior city officials met ZNCC representatives yesterday to discuss the report’s findings, recommendations and possible reforms aimed at strengthening the city’s business environment and enhancing investor confidence.
The engagement comes as Zimbabwe transitions from the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), which ran from 2021 to 2025, into NDS2, the Government’s next five-year economic development blueprint under Vision 2030.
According to the chamber, assessing Bulawayo’s performance under NDS1 is crucial because NDS2 is intended to consolidate gains made during the previous strategy period while addressing remaining constraints.
“NDS2 explicitly describes itself as consolidating the achievements of NDS1 and addressing its unfinished business. The question this section answers is, therefore, foundational in the literal sense: did NDS1 implementation in
Bulawayo leave a strong or weak base on which NDS2’s industrialisation agenda can now build?” reads part of the report.
The chamber evaluated Bulawayo’s performance against key NDS1 pillars, including ease of doing business, local government reform and devolution, investment promotion, industrialisation, SME development, infrastructure development, digital transformation and public service delivery.
Under NDS1, Government committed itself to advancing the Zimbabwe is Open for Business agenda through regulatory reforms designed to reduce compliance costs, improve competitiveness and attract both domestic and foreign investment.
The strategy also prioritised local government reforms and devolution, investment facilitation through the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA), manufacturing revival, formalisation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), infrastructure rehabilitation and the digitalisation of public services.
The chamber acknowledged that significant progress had been achieved at national level through legislative and policy reforms aimed at improving the investment climate.
“Measured against these objectives, the survey evidence indicates that Bulawayo enters the NDS2 period with a mixed-to-weak foundation in the specific domain of the local business regulatory environment, even where national-level reforms have advanced.
“Where the foundation is comparatively strong, the national policy and legal architecture are now firmly in place. The licensing reforms announced in October 2025 and codified in SI 41, SI 6, and SI 10 of 2026 demonstrate that the Ease of Doing Business agenda survived the transition from NDS1 to NDS2 and has been given binding legal force.”
According to the report, the ZIDA one-stop investment framework is now operational, devolution is firmly embedded in both the Constitution and NDS2, while businesses have shown strong willingness to adopt digital service delivery platforms.
“The ZIDA one-stop framework exists. Devolution is constitutionally entrenched and politically embedded in NDS2. Respondents’ strong endorsement of digitalisation shows the private sector is ready to use digital systems the moment they are provided. These are genuine NDS1 legacies on which Bulawayo can build.”
However, the chamber argues that implementation at local authority level has failed to keep pace with national reforms, resulting in inefficiencies that continue to frustrate businesses and investors.
“Where the foundation is weak, implementation at the local authority level has not kept pace with national policy. Building plan approvals exceeding six months, lost documents, fully manual processes, duplicate licensing requirements, opaque bundled rates, infrastructure failure on commercial corridors and uncertainty over parking fee compliance are all directly contrary to NDS1 commitments that should have been delivered by 2025.”
The chamber said one of the report’s most significant findings was evidence that some investors were opting for alternative investment destinations because of Bulawayo’s regulatory challenges.
“The reported relocation of investment to other cities is the clearest possible signal that, for Bulawayo, the NDS1 ease-of-doing-business foundation is incomplete. The risk for NDS2 is that its industrialisation and value-addition targets presuppose an enabling local environment that does not yet exist in Bulawayo.”
The findings are particularly significant given Bulawayo’s historic status as Zimbabwe’s industrial hub and Government’s emphasis on manufacturing growth, beneficiation and value addition under NDS2.
To address the identified shortcomings, the chamber has proposed a comprehensive package of reforms for consideration by city authorities.
Among the key recommendations is the introduction of legally enforceable service delivery timelines.
The report urges the council to: “introduce a mandatory, legally enforceable turnaround period for all building plan approvals and licence applications.”
It also recommends that authorities: “digitalise all council approval and licensing processes, including online submission, tracking, and notification.”
The chamber further proposes the establishment of a one-stop business services portal that consolidates permits, licences and compliance requirements, while also calling for the modernisation of the Regional, Town and Country
Planning Act, whose key provisions date back to 1977.
On municipal charges, the report advocates greater transparency and accountability.
Businesses are calling on the council to: “unbundle all rates and tax invoices and conduct an independent audit of the rates formula, ensuring alignment with the Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29:15], the Finance Act of 2026, and the fee-capping principles established under Statutory Instrument 41 of 2026.”
The chamber also recommends benchmarking Bulawayo’s commercial rates against those charged on comparable properties in Harare and other major urban centres.
Regarding parking management, the report calls for strict adherence to statutory provisions governing parking fees and enforcement measures.
“Ensure TTI (Tendy Three Investments) compliance with Statutory Instrument 41 of 2026 (Model Fees By-Laws, 2026), specifically a parking fee of US$0.50 per hour (reduced from US$1), a clamping penalty held at US$20 per incident and prepaid packages recalculated so no one exceeds the equivalent hourly rate.”
TTI manages the City of Bulawayo’s on-street parking system.
The chamber also advocates a less punitive approach to debt recovery.
“Adopt a published rule that no vehicle is clamped or towed where the amount owed is below US$50, with smaller debts pursued by notice and a settlement window rather than by clamping. Where any entity operating under council oversight fails to comply with a Statutory Instrument, enforce compliance.”
With NDS2 now underway, business leaders believe the proposed reforms offer Bulawayo an opportunity to improve competitiveness, attract new investment and reclaim its position as one of Zimbabwe’s leading industrial and commercial centres.
