The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
Like many strategists and economists, most businesses are optimistic about their own firms’ prospects for 2023 despite facing varying challenges in 2022.
Having not fully recovered from the shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic that hit all countries, Zimbabwe businesses in 2022 were grappling with various constraints that include power outages, corruption, obsolete equipment and delays in payment of goods and services by various government departments.
As the market cooled in 2022 somewhat as compared to 2021, the cooling down of inflation in the last two quarters of 2022 indicated a positive recovery path for businesses in every sector.
Zimbabwe’s annual inflation rate continued to slow down, dropping to 243,8 percent in December 2022 from 255 percent the prior month, on account of several interventions by the Government to curtail continuous price increases and exchange rate volatility.
Since September 2022, inflation has been falling following the coterie of tight monetary and fiscal measures implemented by the Government to stabilise the economy.
Annual inflation was at 285 percent in September 2022, slowing down to 268,5 percent in October before dropping further to 255 percent in November.
A banker, Mrs Stella Moyo said this was a good start for businesses in 2023 and the anticipation was for the annual inflation to continue slowing down as this was critical to preserve value for money, especially the local currency.
“Inflation should continue to stabilise this year. The local currency will also get its rightful position as the main currency of the nation and I think development wise, the GDP will continue to grow coupled with massive infrastructural developments.”
In an interview, Bulawayo Chamber of SMEs chairperson Mr Coustin Ngwenya said despite facing various challenges in 2022, they managed to make it under the difficult circumstances, while they were anticipating a better 2023 for business.
“2022 was a tough year for the SMEs as we were still trying to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic disruptions although we managed to make it under the difficult circumstances. We are, however, very optimistic that 2023 will be a better year for business as we remain on the recovery path and slowly move back to the pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels.”
He said a number of projects and programmes were in the pipeline for 2023 as they eye the global market.
Mrs Samkeliso Nyambiri of Liso Clothing, a clothing manufacturer said although 2022 was challenging, they managed to attain a number of achievements.
“The first half of 2022 was a bit challenging and recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic disruptions was very slow. For the second half, business started to pick up although still slow, however, we have a number of achievements and targets we managed to meet,” said Mrs Nyambiri.
She said some of the other challenges they faced were short supply of raw materials, power cuts and stiff competition from other players in the sector.
Mrs Nyambiri said for 2023, they were optimistic that business would be positive for them as they are aiming to diversify and introduce new products.
In the printing sector, Mr Sabelo Dlodlo of Daily Print said for 2023, they were appealing to the Government to heed to some of the problems they face as MSMEs and provide solutions for them.
“We’re optimistic that once that’s done, we can have a positive growth trajectory for our businesses in 2023. We also anticipate to see very strong levels of deal activity and appetite from buyers and investors to somehow remain very strong.”
He said they were also seeing greater focus on companies that are generating profits as opposed to companies who are targeting exceptional revenue growth.
With the country’s agriculture sector accounting for around 17 percent of the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP), businesses in agriculture forecast to register strong positive performance during the 2022/23 cropping season.
Agriculture in Zimbabwe provides 60 percent of the raw materials required by the industrial sector for its manufacturing operations while it employs between 60 and 70 percent of the country’s population.
A Canada based farmer-entrepreneur, Mr Njabulo Nkala who is farming in Nyamandlovu in the sprawling Umguza District, Matabeleland North, said there was a greater likelihood of his farming business concept expanding this year.
Mr Nkala is into growing cash crops such as wheat, soya beans and sunflower, piggery, goat farming and cattle rearing for beef and dairy.
“We’re optimistic that the business environment this year will be profitable and our businesses will grow. As a farmer who is passionate about farm business and willing to take calculated risks, there’s a high probability of expanding to value-add most of the produce here on the farm,” he said.
He said another sector he was banking on expanding into was apiculture as it was becoming one of the most profitable agriculture businesses.
Mr Nkala said due to a rise in demand for honey and its by-products and a scarcity of natural honey, it was his ambition to set up a commercial beekeeping farm.
“The goal is to venture into apiculture as I expand the farming business model I have. Considering that the beekeeping business needs less investment of money and labourers, I’m working towards setting up a commercial beekeeping farm within the first quarter of the year.”
In terms of the horticulture sector, the Horticultural Development Council (HDC) chief executive officer (CEO) Ms Linda Nielsen said they have been exploring inclusive growth models for the development of horticulture in the country.
This is a key subsector of agriculture that has seen businesses excel, while the Government continues to step up efforts to explore new markets and reclaim traditional ones.
Horticulture contributes about 6,5 percent to total agricultural output and 0,7 percent of Zimbabwe’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The entire agriculture sector earns the country more than US$77 million in export revenues at present.
Ms Nielsen said they will continue working towards partnerships to pilot models for citrus, coffee and avocado among others, as well as alternative funding models to suit the sector and cheaper finance for the commercial sector.
The Second Republic has made food and nutrition security a top priority and is working towards attaining an US$8,2 billion agriculture industry by 2023, underpinned by the country’s National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), the key driver towards the Vision 2030 objective of making Zimbabwe a prosperous and empowered upper-middle income society.
Among other key sectors, tourism is one of the key pillars of the economy in the country. Tourism is an important contributor to local economies as it provides jobs, infrastructure, funds conservation projects and ensures that both people and wildlife can survive.
Zimbabwe’s tourism sector has recorded brisk business with occupancy rates rising significantly in 2022 as the country received approximately US$600 million while US$300 million was poured in on investment.
Recently, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) head of corporate affairs Mr Godfrey Koti revealed that a massive 96 percent increase in domestic entries into national parks was recorded on the local market.n addition, overseas arrivals increased by 256 percent and there was a 130 percent increase in visitors from Africa.
