Online Reporter
Business Reporter
The World Bank has called on Zimbabwe to accelerate reforms aimed at reducing the regulatory burden on businesses, saying greater transparency, simpler compliance processes and stronger accountability are critical to unlocking private-sector growth and job creation.
This comes as Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has since announced that more than six in ten approved business reforms have now been implemented across 12 economic sectors.
Presenting the 2026 Mid-Term Budget Review, Professor Ncube said 61 percent of the approved reforms relating to licences, permits, levies and fees had been actioned as of June 2026, following President Mnangagwa’s January 2025 directive to reduce the cost of doing business and eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens.
Presenting the World Bank’s Zimbabwe Country Growth and Jobs Report, Senior Country Economist Victor Steenbergen said the country had made progress in improving the business environment but needed to sustain the reform momentum to ensure regulations supported, rather than constrained, investment.
He identified regulatory transparency, simplification and governance as three key areas requiring further attention.
Steenbergen said Zimbabwe should establish a comprehensive and easily accessible registry covering business permits, fees and inspection requirements.
The proposed registry would build on the Government’s ongoing stocktaking of licences, fees and permits across priority sectors, as well as the rollout of the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) eRegulations portal.
“The priority should be to fully populate and maintain the portal/registry with complete and regularly updated information from all relevant ministries, departments and agencies, so that it becomes a reliable single reference point for firms and investors,” he said.
The World Bank also urged authorities to eliminate duplication in regulatory processes and reduce the number of transaction points businesses have to navigate.
It said greater use of risk-based regulation and digital compliance systems could lower operating costs, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, while allowing regulators to deploy their resources more efficiently.
“Streamlining will help lower costs for firms, especially SMEs, while allowing regulators to allocate resources more efficiently,” Steenbergen said.
The report further called for stronger regulatory governance, including clearer institutional mandates and a review of agency fee structures, to ensure regulations are designed to serve the public interest rather than institutional revenue requirements.
