THE Zimbabwe National Industrial Development Policy (ZNIDP) II targets a manufacturing growth rate of at least five percent annually and an increase in industrial contribution to the gross domestic product from US$7 billion to US$12 billion by 2030, a senior Government official has said.
This emerged during a high-level stakeholder breakfast meeting on the ZNIDP II (2026–2030) and the Consumer Protection Policy (2026–2030) in Bulawayo on Wednesday.
Mr Stevenson Dlamini, an economist in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, said the policy aligns with regional and global trade frameworks.
These include United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9, African union (AU) Agenda 2063, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), COMESA’s Industrialisation Strategy 2017–2026 and SADC’s Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap 2015–2063.
At the national level, ZNIDP II is anchored in the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2).
“The specific objectives that underlie the ZNIDP II are to create growth in the manufacturing sector, increasing the manufacturing growth rate from an average of 2,2 percent to over five percent annually by 2030,” said Mr Dlamini.
“The second objective is to increase the contribution of manufacturing to GDP. The contribution to GDP must grow from US$7 billion to US$12 billion by 2030.”
Last month, the Cabinet approved the ZNIDP II to guide Zimbabwe’s industrialisation agenda for the next five years, in tandem with policy targets under NDS 2.
The policy builds upon the foundations and progress achieved under the ZNIDP I (2019–2023) and the Zimbabwe Industrial Reconstruction and Growth Plan (ZIRGP 2024–2025).
It aims to promote sustainable and diversified industrial growth, enhance productivity and drive structural transformation and competitiveness by accelerating investment in Zimbabwe’s industrial sector.
Under ZNIDP II, industrial growth is anchored on six enablers. These include a rise in electricity generation to over 4 000MW by 2030, rail and road infrastructure rehabilitation to cut logistics costs, ICT-driven industrialisation and water infrastructure through new dams and upgraded systems.
The policy also targets achieving diversified industrial financing — including blended finance and public-private partnerships (PPPs) — and streamlined commerce ecosystems to strengthen supply chains, market access and consumer protection.
Furthermore, the policy targets raising capacity utilisation from 51 percent to 60 percent by 2030, boosting manufactured exports from US$400 million to US$1 billion, and lifting the manufacturing volume index from 149,4 percent to 180 percent.
Mr Dlamini also outlined the six pillars of the policy, which include deepening industrialisation and value chain optimisation through mapping priority value chains, reducing import leakages and strengthening local content procurement.
The policy prioritises leveraging mining and agricultural advantages via beneficiation programmes, tax incentives, and special economic zones (SEZs) for minerals like gold and lithium. Spatial development and rural industrialisation through provincial industrial strategies, industrial parks, and the aggregation of village-based production are key focus areas.
Digital transformation and AI integration will be deployed to cut regulatory costs, support independent power producers (IPPs) and promote automation, big data, robotics and e-commerce.
The policy will foster industrialisation and SME linkages via mentorship, technology transfer, industrial clusters and stronger local content development, with a target of 60 percent Government sourcing from domestic suppliers.
Meanwhile, Mr Dlamini also presented the 10-year Local Content Strategy (2026–2035), which seeks to raise local resource utilisation in manufacturing from 30 percent to 75 percent by 2035 and lift capacity utilisation to 75 percent.
The plan targets 16 sectors, including pharmaceuticals, oilseeds, dairy, textiles, leather, fertilisers, steel, furniture, automotives and lithium.
Key interventions include preferential procurement under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act, fiscal incentives and business opportunities for women, youth and persons with disabilities.
It also focuses on skills development, green industry promotion and “make local, buy local, consume local” campaigns.
The strategy aims to create over 50 000 jobs by 2035, increase industrial output by more than 25 percent and sustain GDP growth of five percent.“Success depends on anti-smuggling measures, infrastructure, skills transfer, macroeconomic stability and strong agriculture-mining-manufacturing linkages,” said Mr Dlamini.-herald
