Zimbabwe country handbook: highlights of ECA’S support to Zimbabwe 2019-2022

Abstract

According to World Bank statistics for 2021, Zimbabwe has a gross domestic product (GDP) of approximately $26.22 billion, mainly from the agriculture, mining and tourism sectors. Since 2013, the economy of Zimbabwe has been grappling with several development-related challenges, including declining economic growth, inflation, heightened poverty and inequality, huge public debt and soaring unemployment. 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 Subregional Office for Southern Africa prepared and published the Country Profiles series, which 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. These recurrent publications were widely disseminated, eliciting evidence-based policy engagement and dialogue among State and non-State stakeholders.