Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector is quietly staging one of the country’s most significant economic recoveries.
After years in which factory closures, obsolete machinery and underutilised industrial capacity symbolised the decline of domestic production, the sector is now contributing more to the economy than at any point in recent years. Government officials argue that the recovery is no longer confined to a handful of companies but is spreading across multiple industries through new investment, factory expansion and value addition.
For policymakers, the shift represents more than an improvement in industrial statistics. It is central to Zimbabwe’s broader strategy of transforming an economy historically reliant on exporting raw materials into one capable of producing higher-value manufactured goods for domestic and export markets.
Speaking during an industry engagement, Acting Director of Industrial Development in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ruvimbo Sandauke, said recent performance indicators suggest the country’s industrialisation agenda is beginning to produce measurable results.
According to Sandauke, manufacturing’s contribution to Zimbabwe’s Gross Domestic Product has increased from just above 10 percent five years ago to 16.8 percent today, making it one of the country’s leading economic sectors.
That improvement has been accompanied by a substantial increase in factory utilisation.
Average industrial capacity utilisation, which hovered around 30 percent during the late 2010s as companies struggled with foreign currency shortages, ageing equipment and limited investment, has now climbed to approximately 64 percent.
Economists generally view rising capacity utilisation as one of the clearest indicators that factories are producing more efficiently and that existing industrial infrastructure is being used more productively before additional investment becomes necessary.
The strongest momentum has come from Zimbabwe’s food, beverage and tobacco industries, sectors that continue to dominate domestic manufacturing.
Sandauke noted that companies such as Delta Corporation and Innscor Africa have each surpassed the US$1 billion annual revenue threshold, underscoring the growing scale of Zimbabwe’s largest industrial firms.
Growth is also becoming more diversified.
Government says fresh investment is flowing into the cement, iron and steel industries, alongside renewed activity in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, paper and packaging, textiles and clothing, leather manufacturing, and electrical engineering.
Many companies are not simply expanding production but modernising it.
Retooling programmes, new production lines and the arrival of new market entrants suggest businesses are positioning themselves for longer-term growth rather than merely recovering from previous downturns.
Perhaps the clearest indication of Zimbabwe’s industrial ambitions lies beyond its domestic market.
Manufactured exports have increased from approximately US$321 million in 2021 to around US$571 million, a rise of nearly 80 percent in four years.
While manufactured products still account for a relatively small share of Zimbabwe’s total exports compared to minerals and agriculture, Government believes the trend demonstrates increasing competitiveness in regional and international markets.
Its next target is considerably more ambitious.
Through the Industrialisation and Local Content Development Policy, authorities aim to raise manufactured exports to US$1 billion, reflecting a broader policy shift towards value addition and import substitution.
The strategy is designed to ensure that more raw materials mined or grown in Zimbabwe are processed domestically before reaching export markets, creating higher-value products, more skilled employment and stronger industrial linkages throughout the economy.
Whether those targets are achieved will depend on factors extending well beyond factory floors.
Manufacturers continue to identify electricity reliability, affordable long-term finance, logistics, infrastructure and export competitiveness as some of the key constraints to sustained expansion.
Yet compared with a decade ago, the trajectory appears markedly different.
Instead of discussing industrial decline, policymakers are increasingly focused on industrial expansion.
For Zimbabwe, the challenge is no longer simply reopening factories. It is building an industrial base capable of competing regionally while transforming manufacturing from a recovering sector into one of the country’s principal engines of long-term economic growth.
