Online Reporter
Business Reporter
THE World Bank has acknowledged the huge strides Zimbabwe has made in implementing business reforms, saying the country is on track to achieve Vision 2030 to become an upper-middle-income economy, contingent on improving policy coordination and increasing private sector investment.
The compliments come as the World Bank’s latest Zimbabwe Country Growth and Jobs Report outlines a three-pillar reform agenda that could lift economic growth to between 7 and 8 percent, generate more than 200 000 additional jobs, and increase real earnings by more than 30 percent per worker by 2030.
The World Bank report provides fresh support for the Government’s Vision 2030 target, stating that Zimbabwe’s ambition to become an upper-middle-income economy by 2030 is achievable, building on the reforms already underway.
“Most significantly, Zimbabwe could reach upper-middle-income status by 2030 — six years ahead of the business-as-usual trajectory,” the World Bank said.
“This demonstrates that the Government of Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030 goal of achieving UMIC by 2030 is achievable. Yet, it assumes decisive, coordinated execution sustained over multiple years.”
Without major reforms, Zimbabwe’s growth could remain at around 3 to 4 percent, leaving the country unable to achieve upper-middle-income status by 2030.
However, the reforms already implemented, combined with continued efforts, could lift real gross domestic product by 10.7 percent above the baseline by 2030, with the gap widening to 26.9 percent by 2040.
Under the reform scenario, the economy could generate 2.7 million more and better job equivalents by 2040 compared with the baseline, combining new employment with real wage gains for existing workers.
Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube recently announced that more than six in 10 approved business reforms have already been implemented across 12 economic sectors.
Presenting the 2026 Mid-Term Budget Review, Prof Ncube said 61 percent of the approved reforms relating to licences, permits, levies, and fees had been implemented 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 report, Senior Country Economist Mr Victor Steenbergen acknowledged that Zimbabwe had made progress in improving the business environment but said the country needed to sustain the reform momentum to ensure regulations continued to support, rather than constrain, investment.
CZI chief executive officer Ms Sekai Kuvarika also recognised the steps already taken, noting that reducing regulatory fees was a foundational “quick win” that the environment had already achieved.
However, she stressed that these initial successes should be accompanied by longer-term reforms to policy and regulatory governance.
Ms Kuvarika said deeper reforms were still needed to address the proliferation of regulatory agencies and statutory instruments, even as the Government continued to make headway.
Speaking during a panel discussion at the launch of the World Bank report, she said Zimbabwe needed to adopt a broader approach to regulatory reform by reviewing the mandates of existing institutions and determining whether functions performed by multiple agencies could be consolidated.
“The reduction in regulatory fees is foundational. It’s the quick win that the environment could achieve,” Ms Kuvarika said.
However, she stressed that reducing fees should be accompanied by longer-term reforms to policy and regulatory governance.
Ms Kuvarika said the rapid expansion of regulatory agencies had increased the cost of doing business, questioning whether the establishment of new institutions was always necessary to implement emerging regulatory requirements.
Mr Steenbergen identified regulatory transparency, simplification, and governance as three key areas requiring further attention, building on the foundation already laid by Government reforms.
He said Zimbabwe should establish a comprehensive and easily accessible registry covering business permits, fees, and inspection requirements, building on the Government’s ongoing stocktaking of licences and the rollout of the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) eRegulations portal.
“The priority should be to fully populate and maintain the portal 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.
Greater use of risk-based regulation and digital compliance systems could lower operating costs, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises.
“Streamlining will help lower costs for firms, especially SMEs, while allowing regulators to allocate resources more efficiently,” Mr Steenbergen said.
The World Bank report also highlighted the need to create conditions that allow small and informal businesses to become more productive and progressively transition into the formal economy, building on existing Government programmes.
Mr Steenbergen said tackling informality should not focus on eliminating the sector, but on helping viable businesses grow through better access to markets, finance, and productive assets.
The report shows that about four in five jobs in Zimbabwe are estimated to be informal, with informal employment providing livelihoods for millions of people, though productivity and earnings remain significantly below those in the formal economy.
“Rather than eliminating informality outright, supporting upward mobility within it through stronger market linkages, secure land tenure, and better access to finance can enable more productive informal firms to grow, and some to eventually transition to formality,” Mr Steenbergen said.
The report estimates that the informal economy accounts for around two-thirds of gross domestic product, while informal non-agricultural activities provide important income opportunities, particularly in rural areas.
Artisanal and small-scale mining sustains at least two million livelihoods directly and indirectly.
The World Bank also emphasised that greater private sector participation in infrastructure development is critical to closing gaps in energy, transport, and irrigation that are constraining productivity, investment, and job creation.
Mr Steenbergen said inadequate infrastructure had emerged from years of macroeconomic challenges, resulting in higher production costs and reduced connectivity.
The report recommends continued implementation of the national energy compact, improved planning through the National Energy Fund, and maintenance of cost-reflective tariffs while ensuring affordability for businesses.
On transport, Zimbabwe should ring-fence road maintenance expenditure in the short term while prioritising key trade corridors when additional financing becomes available.
Mr Steenbergen stressed that public investment alone would not be sufficient to close the infrastructure deficit, and that recent reforms had already begun to address some of these challenges.
The three pillars of the reform agenda centre on consolidating macroeconomic stability and scaling up infrastructure investment; regulatory reform including simplifying fees, permits, and tax rules; and strengthening the foundations for private investment through improved governance, property rights, commercial justice, and financial-sector deepening.
The World Bank identified agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and tourism as sectors with significant potential to drive growth and quality job creation.
Agriculture could benefit from expanded irrigation, rehabilitated feeder roads, and secure, transferable land titles, while mining would require stronger investment protections, improved foreign currency repatriation, and reliable power and rail infrastructure.
Ms Kuvarika called for a continued mindset shift among regulatory agencies, saying their primary responsibility should be to facilitate economic activity rather than focus primarily on revenue collection, building on the progress already made in this direction.
“Their role is an enabling role,” she said, arguing that a growing business sector would ultimately broaden the tax base and generate more revenue for Government.
She further proposed the introduction of shared services among regulatory authorities to reduce duplication, particularly during inspections.
“Why should we have five individuals from five regulatory authorities going on an inspection list?” Ms Kuvarika said, suggesting that a single inspection team could assess compliance across several regulatory areas.
She said the reforms were achievable but would require an integrated Government-wide approach, with regulatory agencies ultimately being measured by their contribution to improving Zimbabwe’s competitiveness and supporting private-sector growth.
The World Bank said Zimbabwe had the natural resources, human capital, and economic potential to realise its Vision 2030 ambition, and that the reforms already undertaken had laid a solid foundation.
