Cluster initiative key to broadening exports market

TRADE development and promotion agency, ZimTrade, has stressed the need to scale up the export cluster initiative to enhance market diversification as part of strategies towards achieving a US$7,2 billion export earnings target by the end of this year.

ZimTrade introduced the export cluster initiative last year following a directive by President Mnangagwa to ensure that every province contributes to economic growth through exports.

The drive towards export-led growth is fully expressed under the Zimbabwe National Trade Policy and the National Export Strategy (2019-2023), which target to grow exports through market and product diversification.

Already, statistics show that exports grew by 9,2 percent from US$5,4 billion between January to November 2021 to US$5,9 billion in the same period in 2022.

ZimTrade chief executive officer, Mr Allan Majuru, said the country was leveraging its high-quality products to penetrate the different export markets, which have shown interest in Zimbabwean products.

He told Business Chronicle that developing quality products has helped the country to gain the trust of the market, which makes it easy to compete with other countries that supply the same type of products.

“We are going to be doing more clusters this year focusing on other provinces, including Matabeleland South and Midlands to make sure that we increase products for exports,” said Mr Majuru.

He said Senegal, Ghana, Malaysia and China are the target countries.

ZimTrade

The boost in exports can be attributed to the various efforts made by the Government through ZimTrade, which is facilitating export development and export promotional activities such as outward missions and trade-fair participation.

Recently, ZimTrade was in Berlin attending Fruit Logistica where Mr Majuru said deals worth US$5,7 million were finalised and others worth US$13 million were under negotiation .

Mr Majuru said ZimTrade is going to do a review of its success and challenges and how best it can encounter those challenges since the Zimbabwe National Trade Policy is going to end this year.

He said the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative effect on exports and so has been the load shedding which has forced many companies to turn to generators, which has increased their cost of doing business. — chronicle.c.zw