Industry funding ‘too thin’ to drive scale, warns Busisa
STAFF WRITER
Plans to anchor Zimbabwe’s economic growth on industrial expansion are being undermined by budgetary allocations to manufacturing that are too small to deliver scale, competitiveness and value addition, industrialist Dr Busisa Moyo has said.
Speaking at the 2026 National Budget Breakfast Meeting in Bulawayo this week, Dr Moyo said the level of funding directed towards industry falls well short of what is required if manufacturing is to play its central role in transforming the economy and sustaining long-term growth.
“Based on the budget, allocation to industry seems very small given where we are and the programmes needed for the manufacturing sector and industrial expansion. We encourage a much healthier figure in future,” he said.
Dr Moyo warned that early signals from the budget point to a slowdown in manufacturing activity, raising concerns about the durability of overall economic growth if it is not firmly anchored in a strong industrial base.
“From the budget one can see manufacturing growth slowing down slightly. The quality of manufacturing-led growth is important. I believe that the manufacturing sector should be leading the growth. As CZI, we firmly believe in value addition,” he said.
He cautioned that Zimbabwe risks losing ground to regional peers that have placed industrialisation at the heart of their economic strategies, arguing that reliance on primary production exposes the economy to volatile earnings.
“Neighbouring countries are putting a lot of emphasis on industry and we certainly do not want to be left behind. Why? Simply because primary production is very valuable, but the standard deviation or variability of earnings from primary production is very high,” Dr Moyo said.
Beyond fiscal allocations, he highlighted structural weaknesses in investment flows, noting that both foreign direct investment (FDI) and private sector credit remain insufficient to support faster, broader-based industrial growth.
“Zimbabwe is at circa 4 to 8% when lending to the private sector, which stands at about US$2.5 bn. With FDI at US$3.2 bn, we are still financing only a total of about 12 to 15% of private sector needs,” he said.
Dr Moyo said achieving higher and more resilient GDP growth would depend on strengthening investment incentives, attracting larger inflows of foreign capital and expanding private sector credit to give manufacturers access to financing at a scale capable of driving industrial expansion and deepening value addition.
