Zimbabwe’s formal employment figures have topped one million — the highest ever in the country’s history — on the back of a raft of interventions by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Government to realign macro-economic fundamentals and stimulate growth and development.
President Mnangagwa has set his sights on transforming Zimbabwe into an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
In an interview yesterday, CZI president Mr Sifelani Jabangwe said there was increased activity in manufacturing, with several new companies coming to the fore, while some existing ones had been revived.
“Things have changed for the better as companies are employing a lot of people. We are compiling a final report on the statistics on the employment figures,” he said.
Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe chief executive Mr John Mufukari added that new jobs had largely been added in small and medium-sized enterprises.
In his weekly column in the The Sunday Mail, President Emmerson Mnangagwa says statistics from the National Social Security Authority showed a workforce of more than one million registered employees.
“This is the highest employment level ever in our country, with strong prospects of more jobs coming in the future,” the President says.
“At a recent meeting I had with the business community, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries corroborated this by reporting that 800 000 jobs had been created so far.”
The Head of State and Government adds that companies like Zimasco, Bindura Nickel Corporation, Paramount Garments, Treger Holdings, Tanganda Tea Company and Suzan General Trading have recorded a quantum leap in exports.
“By September this year, the value of our exports stood at US$3,01 billion, itself an 18,1 percent increase from the US$2,55 billion realised between January and September last year.”
The mining sector has been the leading light, with gold output already outstripping the 24 tonnes produced last year to reach 30 tonnes.
Government expects the final gold production figure for 2018 to be 34 tonnes.
President Mnangagwa goes on: “Tobacco, too, made impressive gains. A record of 252,3 million kilogrammes was delivered to our auction floors, up from 190 million kilogrammes delivered in 2017.
“This positive trend shows we will soon break the cyclical shortage of foreign exchange which affects the economy every year this time until the next tobacco crop.”
President Mnangagwa explains that the high demand for foreign currency points to increased business activity as industry, mining and agriculture demand more raw materials and inputs.
Some notable projects underway indicating revived economic activity include the Chinese-funded Hwange Power Station expansion project and the huge tile manufacturing enterprise near Norton.
However, the President says, despite these advances, the pirvate media and the political opposition wanted to paint a picture of a country at a stand still, in the process creating a negative country risk that affected all citizens within the context of international trading and lending.
“Things have got to change, principally our attitude and our whole sense of responsibility to our country and its prospects,” said President Mnangagwa.
“It is, after all, our only country, meaning our fortunes or misfortunes ebb and flow with how well it is perceived by and in the wider world.”
-State Media