ZIMBABWE Country Handbook HIGHLIGHTS OF ECA’S SUPPORT TO ZIMBABWE 2019-2022. Contents Economic Commission for Africa, mandate and core functions 5 Mandate 5 Core functions 5 Zimbabwe, socioeconomic and development context 6 Recent technical support to Zimbabwe 7 Promoting inclusive industrialization 7 Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area 9 Voluntary local reviews 9 Migration statistics and the recognition of migrants’ skills 11 Gross domestic product measurement and urban data study in Harare 12 Response to the pandemic 13 Country Profiles initiative 13 ABOUT ECA for a prosperous Africa IdeastoAction ECA’s Core Functions: Conducting multisectoral research Antonio Pedro, Acting Executive Secretary of ECA and analysis that nurture the regional integration. Providing platforms for policy Our mission is to deliver frameworks and action plans at the ideas and actions for an regional and subregional levels. empowered and transformed Africa, informed by the 2030 Providing policy advice and analytical Agenda and Agenda 2063. work to support countries’ sustainable development. ABOUT ECA ECA’s Strategic Directions: BUILD ECA analytical capabilities FORMULATE Macroeconomic and structural policy Hanan Morsy, Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief DESIGN Economist of ECA Innovative financing models ECA’s Overall objective is to INTEGRATE promote inclusive and sustainable development in support of Regional and subregional accelerating the economic initiatives diversification and structural ADVOCATE transformation of Africa, in line with Continental ideas at the the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable global level Development and Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want 3 About ECA in Southern Africa The Subregional Office for Southern Africa, based in Lusaka, covers the following member States: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The core mandate of ECA is to promote inclusive industrialization aimed at reducing poverty and inequality and to foster regional integration and intraregional trade through the direct intervention of the two substantive sections of the Subregional Office: the Inclusive Industrialization Section and the Subregional Initiatives Section. Support to member States, regional Eunice Kamwendo, economic communities and other intergovernmental Director of ECA’s Office for Southern Africa bodies is anchored on the Commission’s aforementioned core functions. Recent technical support provided to stakeholders in Southern Africa included, among other things, industrial policy harmonization; the development of national strategies and implementation plans related to the African Continental Free Trade Area; support for the growth of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises; domestic resource mobilization; and capacity- building in macroeconomic modelling. The Office periodically designates certain countries on which to focus its technical support within the broader programme of supporting social and economic development across the subregion, addressing specific development challenges. Currently, the focus countries are Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 4 ABAOUBT OUT Supporting social and economic development in Southern Africa: recent activities of the Subregional Office for Southern Africa of the Economic Commission for Africa in Zimbabwe Economic Commission for Africa, and environmental) and promote innovative thinking, peer learning, advocacy of public mandate and core functions policies and intersectoral linkages and synergies Mandate » Convening platforms. Providing dedicated regional intergovernmental and multi- Established by the Economic and Social Council stakeholder platforms with strong ownership of the United Nations in 1958 as one of the five by member States, regional bodies and regional commissions of the United Nations, development banks, resulting in agreed the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) development policy frameworks, standards has a mandate to promote the economic and and action plans that reinforce multilateralism social development of its member States, foster at the subregional and regional levels intraregional integration and promote international cooperation for African development. » Providing operational support. Dispensing country-level policy advice through direct, Core functions demand-based support to member States in areas related to the Commission’s normative The contribution of ECA to the implementation of and analytical work, in collaboration with the the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and United Nations system, at the country level. Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, of the African Union is being realized through the Commission’s three core functions: acting as a think tank, convening platforms and providing operational support. » Acting as a think tank. Conducting multisectoral research and analysis to foster the integration of the three sustainable development dimensions (social, economic 5 Zimbabwe, socioeconomic and development context According to World Bank statistics for 2021, $1.90 a day (at 2011 international prices) rose from Zimbabwe has a gross domestic product (GDP) 21.4 to 39.5 per cent. Annual economic growth of approximately $26.22 billion, mainly from the dropped from approximately 20 per cent in 2010 agriculture, mining and tourism sectors.1 Since to 6 per cent in 2021, while the unemployment 2013, the economy of Zimbabwe has been rate (national estimate) increased from 5.4 per cent grappling with several development-related in 2011 to 7.4 per cent in 2019. Total public debt challenges, including declining economic growth, is 53.9 per cent of GDP, of which 95.6 per cent is inflation, heightened poverty and inequality, huge external. External shocks, such as the coronavirus public debt and soaring unemployment. Between disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the conflict June and July 2022, for example, the country’s between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, annual consumer price inflation rate rose from have worsened the situation, exerting pressure on 191.6 to 256.9 per cent, the highest since February the country’s national budget and undermining 2021. The country’s Gini index rose from 43.2 its efforts and path to achieving the Sustainable to 50.3 between 2011 and 2019, indicating that Development Goals. inequality increased. Over the same period, the percentage of the population living on less than 1 Available at https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=ZW. 6 Recent technical support to Zimbabwe Promoting inclusive industrialization The Subregional Office for Southern Africa, in close collaboration with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, is providing technical support for the establishment of a common agro-industrial park straddling the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The two organizations facilitated an online stakeholder meeting, held on 31 May 2021, by stakeholders from both countries that was held which validated a feasibility study on creating the in Harare on 10 and 11 August 2022. A study on park. During the meeting, Zambia and Zimbabwe the dairy and maize value chains, undertaken to reaffirmed their commitment to the transboundary identify the target value chains of the joint agro- initiative, in line with the cooperation agreement industrial park, was also validated during the same they had previously signed on 18 March 2021. The meeting. recommendations emanating from the meeting included an outline of modalities of operation for In the same context, as part of the United Nations the park, its form and structure, and the value Development Account twelfth tranche project, ECA chains to be targeted. completed the following subregional initiatives that were focused on Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe: After the validation of the feasibility study and following the recommendations from the meeting, » Publication entitled: Harnessing the Potential ECA organized awareness-raising workshops of Special Economic Zones for Private Sector on creating a joint agro-industrial park with Development and Inclusive Industrialization in stakeholders in Zimbabwe (October 2021) and Southern Africa in Zambia (March 2022) to provide information » Workshop on the alignment and harmonization about the future park and the opportunities it of regional and national frameworks on could offer to citizens and entrepreneurs in both industrialization and domestic adoption of countries. Experts validated a draft harmonized subregional strategies and policies to support policy, including a legal, regulatory and institutional industrial development in Southern Africa, held framework for the park, during a meeting attended 7 8 Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area Zimbabwe is one of the States that have ratified Following the validation process that was completed the Agreement Establishing the African Continental in late 2020, the strategy has since been finalized Free Trade Area. The country has also developed and is currently being published for dissemination. its national implementation strategy relating to the Area, with technical support provided by ECA. Voluntary local reviews Voluntary local reviews are designed to facilitate development at the local level, in line with the the sharing of experiences, successes, challenges, devolution agenda. To facilitate voluntary local opportunities and lessons learned to accelerate reviews, the Government of Zimbabwe, through the implementation of the 2030 Agenda during the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social the decade of action and delivery for sustainable Welfare, requested support from the United development. The reviews are also aimed at Nations. Over the course of 2022 and under the strengthening policy coherence and mobilizing leadership of the Resident Coordinator Office, five support and partnerships to achieve sustainable entities of the United Nations system (Department 9 of Economic and Social Affairs, International following: track progress in implementing the Organization for Migration, United Nations 2030 Agenda using the targets and indicators Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, of the Goals in a manner that respects their United Nations Human Settlements Programme universality and interconnectedness, using proxy (UN-Habitat) and ECA) have committed to indicators where necessary and taking national providing financial support for voluntary local priorities into consideration; highlight the effects reviews, and other United Nations agencies will of COVID-19 on progress made in implementing provide technical support where needed. the Goals and initiatives undertaken to cushion citizens against the impact of the pandemic at the The 2022 voluntary local reviews are intended to local level; facilitate peer-to-peer learning among leverage resource availability at the community level local authorities, promoting their accountability to and showcase how communities are contributing citizens; reflect on initiatives being implemented to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. to foster development at local levels while During the reviews, progress in implementing considering all three dimensions of sustainable the Goals in the districts of Bulawayo, Nkayi, development; and provide a knowledge repository Zvishavane and Mutasa will be examined in an and a framework that can be used to cascade the inclusive, participatory and transparent manner. Through the reviews, the authorities will do the voluntary local reviews to other local authorities. 10 Migration statistics and the recognition of migrants’ skil ls Zimbabwe is one of six African countries receiving technical support under the ECA project on migration statistics and the recognition of migrants’ skills, along with Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa. These countries have a long history of migration and have shown a strong commitment to addressing migration issues. The project was officially launched on 13 July 2022 at the Monomotapa Hotel in Harare. For Zimbabwe, the project will strengthen the country’s capacity to collect, analyse and disseminate standardized migration- related data and enhance mutual recognition of the skills and qualifications of African workers for implementing the migration- related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. The project will be focused on the following: » Capturing and considering gender-specific migration trends and statistics » Developing an informed understanding among key senior-level government officials of the contribution of migration to economic growth, poverty reduction and lower vulnerability » Enhancing the capacity of Zimbabwe to monitor and report on the Global Compact for Migration » Analysing movement data that is facilitated through national and regional policy instruments 11 Gross domestic product measurement and urban data study in Harare The main objective of the pilot study was to that Harare has contributed approximately 38 per estimate city GDP for Harare to support plans by cent of national GDP since 2016. Overall, Harare ECA to produce standard reliable data indicators GDP in 2018 stood at approximately $7.7 billion for measuring the sizes of city GDP in African (in 2012 constant prices), falling to $7.1 billion in countries. The specific objectives were to identify 2019. From 2015 to 2020, the average per capita and assess the availability of data for city GDP income of Zimbabwe was $1,514.67 in nominal estimation, in coordination with local and national terms, with 2015 per capita GDP at $1,410, rising statistical authorities; define the most appropriate to $2,269.2 in 2018 before dropping to $1,422 method for city GDP estimation in Harare, based on and $1,372.7 in 2019 and 2020, respectively.2 available data (no new data were collected); collect Since the city of Harare contributes markedly and compile the raw data sets required for the city to the country’s economic performance, its fast GDP estimation; and estimate the GDP of Harare deteriorating infrastructure and GDP performance from 2015 to 2019. With the aim of obtaining since 2018 has adversely affected the country’s improved Harare city GDP estimates, a top-down GDP performance and GDP per capita trends. approach was used in which GDP at the national level was apportioned to the city of Harare using workers’ productivity. The approach is widely used and has the capacity to disaggregate national-level GDP to city-level GDP. The estimates showed that developments in Harare, which play a critical role in national development strategies, are crucial to the growth of the economy of Zimbabwe. The main implication of the estimates is that economic developments in Harare largely shape the national economy: the findings show 2 Available at https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=ZW. 12 Response to the pandemic The Subregional Office for Southern Africa worked on the impact of COVID-19 on economies in closely with the Resident Coordinator Office and Southern Africa as part of the deliverables under other United Nations entities in Zimbabwe to the United Nations Development Account twelfth support studies analysing the social and economic tranche project, including a study commissioned impact of COVID-19, in support of interventions and undertaken by the Subregional Office for by entities of the United Nations system and other Southern Africa: “COVID-19 and regional economic stakeholders, in particular in 2020. Furthermore, development: impacts, coping strategies and post- as one of the member States in the subregion, pandemic development in Southern Africa”. Zimbabwe is part of the subregional analyses Country Profiles initiative COUNTRY PROFILE 2015 The Subregional Office for Southern Africa prepared and published the Country Profiles series, which ZIMBABWE included a profile on Zimbabwe. Each profile provided robust independent analysis of the country’s economic and social development status, progress and prospects, which policymakers and analysts could use for key national, regional and international development initiatives and agendas, including economic transformation. The series was published and updated until 2018. The latest generation of profiles are the structural transformation, employment, production and society (STEPS) profiles. The recurrent publications were widely disseminated, eliciting evidence-based policy engagement and dialogue among State and non-State stakeholdersISB.N 978-99944-XX-XX-X Printed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by the ECA Printing and Publishing Unit ISO 14001:2004 certified 13 Subregional Office for Southern Africa Lusaka-Zambia Tel: +260 211 228 502/5 E-mail: eca-sro-sa-srdc@un.org Follow us: @eca_sro_sa Angola Botswana Lesotho Malawi Mauritius Mozambique Namibia South Africa Swaziland Zambia Zimbabwe ©2022 United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, All rights reserved. Printed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by the ECA Printing and Publishing Unit. ISO 14001:2015 certified. Printed on chlorine free paper.