Online Reporter
Rutendo Nyeve [email protected]
THE national trade development and promotion agency, ZimTrade, has intensified efforts to increase the contribution of value-added products to Zimbabwe’s export basket following a significant rise in export earnings to US$9,71 billion.
Speaking during the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce Congress in Victoria Falls, ZimTrade Director of Operations, Mr Similo Nkala, said the agency was implementing programmes aimed at ensuring women, youths and rural communities actively participate in the country’s growing export economy.
While Zimbabwe’s exports have grown from US$3,3 billion in 2016 to US$9,71 billion, value-added exports remain low at US$571 million, accounting for less than six percent of total exports.
Mr Nkala said this presents a major opportunity for Zimbabwe to move beyond the export of raw commodities and derive greater value from its natural resources and productive sectors.
“We still have a lot to do to increase our exports of value-added products,” he said.
He noted that recent figures point to encouraging progress, with value-added exports rising by 34,4 percent to more than US$200 million during the first months of 2026, largely driven by engineering steel products and manufactured tobacco.
As part of efforts to broaden participation in export markets, ZimTrade has decentralised its services beyond traditional economic centres by establishing a Mutare office that also serves Masvingo Province, bringing training and support services closer to businesses in outlying areas.
The agency’s She Exporter programme, launched in 2022, has already empowered more than 400 women entrepreneurs in the horticulture and crafts sectors through training in financial management, branding and digital marketing.
The initiative targets businesses that are wholly owned by women or those in which women hold at least a 51 percent shareholding.
“We capacitate more than 100 women entrepreneurs every year to be export ready,” said Mr Nkala.
For young entrepreneurs, ZimTrade is implementing the award-winning Eagles Nest programme and its Agri-Challenge initiative, which was launched in partnership with the Netherlands Embassy to equip youths with export marketing and business development skills.
Recognising the challenges faced by individual rural producers in accessing international markets, ZimTrade has also established cluster models in all 10 provinces to enable producers to export collectively.
Mr Nkala said women basket weavers in Binga and Lupane were already benefiting from this approach through organised arts and crafts export clusters.
“Our mothers in Binga won’t be able to export to Europe on their own, so we’ve put them together to export as a group,” he said.
As Zimbabwe accelerates implementation of its economic transformation agenda, ZimTrade’s inclusive export programmes are expected to play an important role in building a diversified, resilient and value-driven export sector that creates opportunities for communities across the country.
