Zimbabwe’s exports are moving closer to meeting the government’s US$7 billion target by 2023, after rising by 37,3% last year. Exports climbed to US$6 billion in 2021, from US$4,39 billion the previous year.
Still, 2020 was a difficult phase in Zimbabwe’s recovery efforts, with hard lockdowns forcing blanket firm closures and plummeting global consumption which affected exports. Experts have argued that the 2021 rise came from a low base triggered by pandemic-related economic shutdowns.
However, giving an update to Parliament this week, ZimTrade chief executive officer (CEO) Allan Majuru said Zimbabwe was on track to meet National Export Strategy targets: “Zimbabwe’s total exports in 2021 stood at US$6,03 billion, which is a 37,3% increase compared to US$4,39 billion recorded in the same period in 2020. The country is within reach of the 2023 target of US$7 billion as per the National Export Strategy. The thrust of the national export strategy is to grow exports of value-added products to increase the country’s export earnings and increase local employment.”
“Our exports of value-added products increased by 5,5% from US$383,5 million in 2020 to US$404,7 million in 2021. This is in tandem with increased export promotion activities we have been doing in strategic markets,” Majuru said.
“In 2020, the horticulture sector exports were US$138,1 and it’s a sign that we are getting closer to the 1998/99 figures of US$143 million. The major contributors to the exports in horticulture were citrus US$41,2 million, tea US$19,4 million, leguminous vegetables US$19 million, blueberries US$14,8 million and macadamia nuts US$14 million.”
Source: theindependent.co.zw
