By Shingirai Masara
ZIMTRADE AND the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing the Zimbabwe Export Manufacturers Initiative on 14 August in Harare.
This initiative creates a collaborative platform designed to equip local manufacturers with the strategic solutions needed to compete regionally and globally.
While Zimbabwe enjoys preferential access to vast markets through the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), manufactured exports currently account for little 10 percent of the country’s total exports.
While manufactured exports have been improving over the years, recording a growth of 34.4 percent from US$149 million in 2025 to over US$200 million in 2026, there is a need for enhanced industrial capacity and competitiveness, a gap the new initiative directly aims to address.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, CZI Chief Executive Officer Ms. Sekai Kuvarika emphasised the necessity of moving beyond mere production.
“We need more Zimbabwean manufacturers to enter export markets, expand into new destinations and move towards higher-value products that meet international standards,” she stated.
The initiative will therefore focus on overcoming the specific barriers that limit export growth, including productivity enhancement, standards compliance, access to finance, trade facilitation, and market intelligence.
By merging ZimTrade’s export development and market access expertise with CZI’s deep industry knowledge and advocacy capabilities, the MoU creates a unified approach to transforming the manufacturing sector.
ZimTrade Chief Executive Officer Mr. Allan Majuru noted that closer cooperation between industry and trade promotion is essential for translating production capacity into sustainable export growth.
“This initiative is important for developing practical and strategic solutions that enable manufacturers to transition from serving domestic markets to competing successfully on the global stage,” he said.
Beyond immediate export support, the partnership is expected to drive Zimbabwe’s broader industrialization agenda by promoting value addition, improving product quality, and creating employment opportunities.
More importantly, the collaboration will strengthen engagement between industry and policymakers, ensuring that persistent challenges are addressed through evidence-based policy reforms and targeted support programmes.
The signing of this MoU marks a foundational step toward building a resilient, export-oriented manufacturing sector by aligning industry expertise with export development initiatives. Through this ZimTrade and CZI are laying the groundwork for greater participation of Zimbabwean products in regional and international value chains, which will ultimately position the country as a competitive manufacturing and export hub within Africa and beyond.
