Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) is conducting a nationwide exercise to identify households and businesses that will participate in surveys assessing access to and use of financial services across the country.
The exercise, running from October 19 to November 13, 2026, is targeting selected enumeration areas in all 10 provinces ahead of the full FinScope Consumer and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) surveys.
The surveys are expected to establish how households and businesses access and use financial services, including banking, savings, credit, insurance and digital payment platforms, as well as the challenges they face.
In a statement, ZIMSTAT said the preliminary data collection would provide a scientific basis for selecting households and businesses to participate in the surveys.
Enumerators will collect information on household demographics, livelihoods, income sources and the use of formal, informal and digital financial services.
The exercise will also examine savings, borrowing, access to credit, insurance, risk management and financial well-being.
For MSMEs, the data collection will focus on business registration, size, sector, access to finance, credit applications, working capital, investment and challenges affecting business growth.
The findings are expected to help identify barriers to financial inclusion and inform policies and programmes aimed at building an inclusive and sustainable financial sector.
ZIMSTAT acting director-general, Mrs Fadzayi Ndlovu, urged households and business owners in the selected areas to cooperate with enumerators, saying their participation was essential to producing reliable official statistics.
“Your participation is vital in ensuring the production of reliable official statistics that support the development of an inclusive and robust financial sector in Zimbabwe,” she said.
Mrs Ndlovu said the exercise was being conducted in terms of the Census and Statistics Act, which mandates ZIMSTAT to collect official statistics for national development planning.
She assured respondents that all information collected would remain confidential and be used solely for statistical purposes.
“Individual and business information will not be disclosed to any person or organisation,” she said.
Mrs Ndlovu added that all enumerators would carry official authorisation letters to enable residents and business owners to verify their identities before providing information.
