BY MTHANDAZO NYONI
ZIMBABWE’S exports promotion agency, ZimTrade, says it has generated over US$10 million for the country after undertaking outward missions to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Lubumbashi in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as the country scales up efforts to rebuild faltering foreign currency reserves.
Zimbabwe has also struggled to address prolonged trade deficits that have precipitated foreign currency shortages.
Trade missions are organised by countries and corporations to test market responses to their products.
Through a trade mission, government officials and corporations travel to targeted markets to promote trade between their countries, helping to create networks of buyers, agents, suppliers and key government contacts in targeted countries and regions.
ZimTrade has been aggressively undertaking trade missions to generate exports for Zimbabwean products and establish new supply chains.
The agency recently said after the Lubumbashi mission in the DRC and excursion to the UAE, it would be leading Zimbabwean exporters to Rwanda and South Africa.
It said in its latest newsletter that outward missions had started bearing fruit, helping companies unlock export opportunities during a time when individual efforts had been affected by the surge in Covid-19 cases worldwide.
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“As the Covid-19 pandemic becomes a recurring concern, many trading activities that companies would exploit to promote their products have been cancelled or postponed in 2020, and currently,” ZimTrade said.
“As the pandemic becomes more and more unpredictable, businesses need to (employ) different and alternative ways to promote trade and encourage exports. As such, ZimTrade has been on a drive to conduct outward business missions to assist local businesses to penetrate and access various export markets. To date, ZimTrade has conducted two outward missions to Dubai in the UAE and Lubumbashi in DRC both, which have both managed to generate over US$10 million in generated business,” ZimTrade added.
In South Africa, ZimTrade will lead about 20 Zimbabwean exporters including small to medium-scale enterprises with interests in the agricultural implements and inputs business, building and construction, protective clothing, engineering, processed foods and beverages.
South Africa is Zimbabwe’s largest trading partner and neighbour.
Zimbabwe gets 40% of its total imports from South Africa and 75% of its total exports go there.
Rebuilding exports would be important in addressing a widening trade deficit in Zimbabwe, which suffered a US$300 million trade deficit during the first quarter of 2021, as imports continued to outweigh the value of goods exported by the country.
In its first quarter economic bulletin released in June, the ministry of Finance said Zimbabwe imported goods worth US$1,4 billion during the period, and exported goods worth US$1,1 billion.
Trade deficit, which occurs when a country’s imports exceed exports during a given time, has haunted Zimbabwe for many years as its industries struggle to produce and export higher volumes compared to an avalanche of goods flowing from other countries.
The result has been prolonged foreign currency shortages, which have militated against efforts to turn around the economy.
“The country exported goods worth US$1,1 billion during the first quarter, a 5% increase from US$1 billion, recorded during same period last year,” the ministry of Finance noted.
“Mineral exports dominated in the top 20 exports products at 84%, with nickel ores and mattes, ferro-chromium, industrial diamonds, platinum and coal products registering growth. On the downside were gold, flue-cured tobacco and other tobacco products. The country’s exports were mainly destined to South Africa absorbing 34%, followed by UAE and Mozambique, absorbing 23% and 10%, respectively, while the rest of the world imported 33% of our products. Similarly, merchandise imports increased by 12% to US$1,4 billion from US$1,3 billion realised during the same period last year.”
