Online Reporter
Nqobile Bhebhe
Zimpapers Business Hub
THE Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce has expressed reservations over Bulawayo’s preparedness to fully exploit opportunities during the National Development Strategy (NDS2-2026-2030) period.
ZNCC Bulawayo chapter cited unresolved ease of doing business factors, such as regulatory and administrative challenges, as potential hurdles to the city’s industrialisation agenda.
The warning is contained in the ZNCC’s Improving the Ease of Doing Business in Bulawayo Report dated June 22, 2026, recently submitted to the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) following an extensive survey of businesses operating in the city.
BCC has since invited the chamber to meet Bulawayo mayor Councillor David Coltart and the city’s leadership to discuss the report, recommendations and practical reforms to strengthen Bulawayo’s business environment and improve investor confidence.
This comes as Zimbabwe has transitioned from NDS1, which ran from 2021 to 2025, into NDS2, the country’s next five-year economic blueprint under Vision 2030.
According to ZNCC, evaluating Bulawayo’s performance under NDS1 is critical because NDS2 is designed to build on achievements recorded during the previous strategy period while addressing outstanding challenges.
“NDS2 explicitly describes itself as consolidating the achievements of NDS1 and addressing its unfinished business.
“The question this section answers is, therefore, foundational in the literal sense: did NDS1 implementation in Bulawayo leave a strong or weak base on which NDS2’s industrialisation agenda can now build?” reads part of the report.
The chamber assessed Bulawayo’s performance against key NDS1 pillars, including ease of doing business, local government reform and devolution, investment promotion, industrialisation, SME development, infrastructure development, digital transformation and public service delivery.
Under NDS1, the Government committed itself to advancing the “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” agenda through regulatory reforms aimed at reducing compliance costs, improving competitiveness and attracting investment.
The strategy also prioritised local government reforms and devolution, investment facilitation through the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA), revival of manufacturing, MSME formalisation, infrastructure rehabilitation and digitalisation of public services.
The chamber acknowledged that significant progress had been achieved at the national level, particularly through legislative and policy reforms designed to improve the business climate.
Peter Tanyanyiwa