ZimTrade eye 200% increase in DRC exports

ZimTrade, is targeting to increase the country’s value of exports to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by 200 percent to US$180 million in the next few months.

Mr Allan Majuru, ZimTrade chief executive, said this in an interview on the sidelines of the Zimbabwe-DRC Business Forum held at the ongoing Zimbabwe Agriculture Show in Harare this week.

“Our aim is to treble the current figure, currently we are doing at around US$60 million so the idea is to make sure that we treble that figure in the couple of months with the interest that we are generating from the trade missions and discussion that we are having.

The two countries, which are both members of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, enjoy good political relations and at the moment Zimbabwe exports mainly goods that include coal, cereals, timber, fresh produce and safety wear.

“But we want to also diversify that base so that we export service because it’s a key service that we can put a dollar value to it,” he said.

In his welcome remarks Mr Majuru highlighted that the country’s economy was underpinned by key economic sectors such as agriculture, tourism, manufacturing and mining.

He said it was in this context that after the business event, the objective was to improve the volume and value of trade between the two countries.

“So, we have brought in companies based on the request that was made by our counterparts (DRC business delegation at the Zim-DRC Business Forum) to make sure that we then have business-to-business meetings for us to generate business.

“We have had meetings in DRC and Zimbabwe before and now we want to make sure that we see a dollar sign to all these discussions that we are having,” he said.

Zimbabwe’s exports to DRC, Mr Majuru said, have been growing but the issue was that Zimbabwe’s imports are growing more than exports.

“Trade is two way, as much as you would want to export to DRC, but we would want DRC to also export goods and services to Zimbabwe and this is the reason why we are here (Zim-DRC Business Forum.

“As you can see at the moment in terms of our trade balance with DRC, the trade balance is more to our side.

“We are exporting more to DRC than we are getting from our counterparts but the key thing is the amount of business that we are doing in DRC is very low- US$66 million is very low when you look into the import bill from DRC which in billions and billions of dollars, I think we can do more,” he said.

The business delegation from DRC highlighted during the forum vast investment and trade opportunities that exist in their country.

Such opportunities exist in sectors that include agriculture and agro-processing, mining, manufacturing, tourism, and construction.

Meanwhile, recently the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) sealed an agreement for the sale of over 30 tonnes of beef per month to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The arrangement is being made after a trade mission of Zimbabwe’s industry to the DRC in July this year realised a huge market base for beef products.

Beef exports to DRC are expected to start next month.

The country’s famed beef industry collapsed at the turn of the millennium following the imposition of illegal sanctions by Western countries when the country embarked on the successful fast-track land reform programme.

The beef industry, which raked in nearly US$50 million annually from exports to the European market, particularly the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands, has been heavily crippled by the adverse impact of sanctions in recent years.

However, the beef industry has great potential to contribute to economic growth in line with Vision 2030 aimed at attaining an upper middle-income economy.

The industry is among the key sectors earmarked to drive the turnaround of the country’s economy. — Business Weekly/Chronicle