Online Reporter
Rutendo Nyeve, [email protected]
THE Government is spearheading a decentralisation drive to ensure all 10 provinces become hubs of economic growth through capacitating local development agencies and targeted investment promotion.
Deputy Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, David Mnangagwa, said that Cabinet is strengthening Provincial Local Economic Development Agencies (Ledas) to function as fully-fledged investment promotion entities capable of identifying, packaging and marketing provincial opportunities.
He was presenting a ministerial statement to the National Assembly last Wednesday, where he outlined a comprehensive framework designed to ensure no province is left behind as Zimbabwe pursues an upper-middle-income status.
“The Government remains firmly committed to balanced and inclusive economic development, ensuring that all provinces contribute meaningfully to national growth and benefit from investment inflows,” said Deputy Minister Mnangagwa.
“In this regard, the Government is in the process of capacitating and strengthening local economic development agencies, Ledas, at the provincial level.
“These agencies will operate as fully-fledged investment promotion and facilitation entities headed by the Economic Affairs directors under OPC, supported by appropriately skilled technical staff.”
Cde Mnangagwa said their mandate was to identify, package and promote provincial investment opportunities, support local enterprises and drive provincial economic transformation, drawing lessons from the successful regional development agencies such as South Africa’s Mega and Leda.
Complementing this institutional revamp, Government is rolling out provincial and regional investment conferences across all 10 provinces.
“These conferences are designed to decentralise investment promotion, showcase province-specific opportunities, connect local project owners with domestic and international investors and promote public-private partnerships aligned with provincial comparative advantages,” he said.
Structured training on project development and investment readiness, undertaken jointly with the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (Zida), is already being implemented nationwide to ensure provinces present bankable projects that meet investor requirements.
Furthermore, Government is deploying the Project Preparation Development Fund (PPDF) and related financing windows to assist start-ups and Small to Medium Enterprises with early-stage project development costs.
“This intervention is particularly important in unlocking grassroots investment, nurturing local champions and fostering inclusive growth,” he said.
Deputy Minister Mnangagwa also said that economic affairs directors will operate under performance contracts, with the Government considering embedding specific key performance indicators to incentivise delivery.
“I would think that having some of their key performance indicators would make sure that they are incentivised to perform. So, I will take that recommendation, that we have these as indicators and as parameters for their performance and embedded into their contract,” he said.
The measures underscore Government’s resolve to move economic activity beyond traditional hubs, with provinces such as Mashonaland West and towns like Chinhoyi positioned to play central roles in Zimbabwe’s development trajectory.
Provincial Ledas have historically been under-resourced despite their mandate.
The injection of technical capacity and access to project preparation funding addresses a critical bottleneck where viable provincial projects failed to attract investment due to inadequate bankability.
The move aligns with the National Development Strategy 1’s devolution agenda, progressively transferring meaningful economic agency to sub-national structures.
Colletta Dube