Zimbabwe is often described as a country with immense potential. Rich natural resources, a resilient population, strategic regional location and a strong entrepreneurial spirit are undeniable strengths.
Yet potential is not a strategy, and it is certainly not a brand. In today’s competitive environment, countries compete for investment, tourism, skills and trade opportunities in the same way businesses compete for customers. They are judged by lived experience. Brand Zimbabwe is therefore not a marketing project. It is a national performance issue.
There is a common misconception that national branding is primarily about advertising and public relations. In reality, advertising amplifies what already exists. It cannot substitute for consistency, credibility and delivery.
A country’s reputation is built through daily signals that citizens, investors and visitors interpret constantly. These include policy predictability, institutional conduct, ease of doing business, dispute resolution, infrastructure reliability, personal safety, service culture, and the integrity of regulatory enforcement. Brand equity, whether corporate or national, grows when expectations are met repeatedly over time. It declines when experience and messaging diverge.
Any country’s reputation challenge is not limited to external matters alone. It is internal as well. Inconsistent policy signals weaken business planning, disrupt supply chains and discourage long-term investment.
They also shape citizen behaviour by incentivising informality, short-termism and risk avoidance. For investors, policy uncertainty increases the cost of capital and delays commitment.
For households, it reduces trust in institutions. For businesses, it shifts management focus from innovation and growth toward hedging and survival. Reputation is rarely lost in a single event. It is often eroded through repeated experiences of unpredictability. Reputation is shaped by institutions at the frontline.
In addition to government pronouncements, Brand Zimbabwe is carried by institutions. The international community forms opinions through touchpoints that are practical and measurable. For example, how easy is it to enter and move around the country? How reliable are processes? How fair are rules? How effective is service delivery?
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This places heightened importance on the performance of key national institutions that shape experience and confidence. The tourism sector is an obvious example.
The recent appointment of George Munyaradzi Manyaya as chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, with his credentials in marketing and communications, signals an appreciation that destination competitiveness is tied to strategic positioning, stakeholder alignment and quality assurance.
However, tourism institutions are only one part of the national brand machinery. Zimbabwe’s reputation is also shaped by the performance of border and immigration services, the investment approvals ecosystem, local authorities, the justice system, utilities, aviation and transport bodies, regulatory agencies, as well as the broader culture of customer experience in both the public and private sectors.
In reputation terms, every interaction is marketing. Brand Zimbabwe begins at the point of entry. For visitors and investors, the first encounter with Brand Zimbabwe is rarely a brochure or a campaign. It is the entry experience.
Airports, road border posts, visa processes, signage, professionalism, queue management and consistency of information all signal whether the country is serious about service.
A brand is strengthened when processes are simple, fair and predictable. It is weakened when experiences feel uncertain, inconsistent or excessively discretionary.
Tourism boards can position a destination, but if entry processes are frustrating or unpredictable, reputation declines faster than marketing can repair it.
Zimbabwe’s investment narrative is often built around opportunity. That is necessary, but it is not sufficient. Investors seek predictable rules, timely approvals, enforceable contracts, and clear dispute resolution mechanisms. A strong national brand is supported by strong investment facilitation institutions, clear regulatory frameworks, and consistent application of rules.
Where these systems perform, the country earns credibility. Where they do not, the country becomes a higher risk proposition regardless of its underlying assets. Investor confidence is therefore shaped as much by governance delivery as by promotional messaging.
National branding is often aimed outward, yet citizens are the daily carriers of a country’s reputation. They shape the narrative through their own trust levels, confidence in institutions, and participation in formal systems. When people believe the economy is fair and predictable, compliance rises and social cohesion improves.
When people believe rules are inconsistent or selectively enforced, informality expands and institutional legitimacy weakens.
A country cannot build a credible external brand while internal confidence remains fragile. The internal audience must be treated as a strategic priority, not an afterthought.
The quality of public services is a reputation multiplier. Service culture in licensing offices, municipal services, policing, health facilities, and utilities is not limited to operational matters only. It is reputational.
This is why Brand Zimbabwe must include a service delivery mindset across institutions. Clear standards, performance measurement and accountability should not be seen as corporate concepts.
They are national competitiveness tools. Countries that perform well on service delivery build trust more quickly, reduce friction for business, and attract capital in a competitive region.
Brand Zimbabwe is not produced by the state alone. Corporate conduct shapes national perception. If businesses exploit consumers, deliver inconsistent service, or price without transparency, trust deteriorates.
Conversely, when companies demonstrate ethical leadership, improve customer experience and invest in training, they reinforce national credibility. A tourism visitor does not separate the experience of a hotel, a taxi, a restaurant, a mobile network or a payment system from their view of Zimbabwe.
They experience it as one brand ecosystem. The same applies to investors interacting with banks, service providers, professional firms and regulators. The national reputation is the sum of these interactions.
Zimbabwe, like any other country, operates in an era where reputations are formed in real time. Visitors rely on social media, online reviews, diaspora commentary, travel influencers and news cycles. Investors use risk assessments, networks, and global media narratives. One negative experience can travel globally in minutes.
One success can also create momentum quickly. This makes policy consistency and institutional performance even more important. Digital reputation cannot be managed through statements. It is managed through systems that work repeatedly, across sectors, over time.
Zimbabwe does not need a new slogan. It needs a consistent national operating system. Three priorities stand out. First is policy coherence. The country needs fewer contradictions, clearer direction, and predictable frameworks that reduce risk premiums and support long-term planning.
Second is institutional performance. Improving service delivery, licensing processes, dispute resolution efficiency, and fairness in enforcement is the fastest route to rebuilding credibility.
Third is a shared responsibility model. Government, business civic institutions and the citizens must treat national reputation as a strategic asset. Reputation management must be anchored in ethics, professionalism and delivery.
Brand Zimbabwe will be built through consistency. The appointment of leaders with strong marketing and communications credentials in strategic institutions such as tourism is a welcome signal. But the broader task is national.
Zimbabwe’s brand equity will rise when institutions perform predictably, policies are coherent, and lived experience aligns with the story we want the world to believe. The country’s greatest branding opportunity lies not in what it can say to the world, but in what it can reliably do, every day.
- Mambure is a business leader and public policy scholar. He is a chartered marketer and fellow of the CIM (UK)and holds an MBA, Master in Public Policy and Government and an MSc in Marketing. — [email protected].
