From the President's Desk

Warm greetings to our members, partners, and key stakeholders as we usher in 2026.

On behalf of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), I extend my sincere appreciation to the business community for its resilience, confidence, and steadfast commitment to sustaining enterprise and economic activity under exceptionally challenging conditions. Zimbabwean businesses have demonstrated remarkable endurance in the face of macroeconomic volatility, policy uncertainty, infrastructure constraints, and global disruptions. That resilience has preserved jobs, safeguarded productive capacity, and kept the wheels of commerce turning.

Our 2026 theme, “From Resilience to Competitiveness: Charting a New Path for Sustainable Industrial Growth,” marks a deliberate and necessary shift in national business ambition. While resilience has been essential for survival, it is no longer sufficient for long-term prosperity. The imperative before us is to convert resilience into competitiveness—measured through productivity, innovation, value addition, export capability, and the ability of Zimbabwean firms to compete successfully in domestic, regional, and global markets.

This strategic transition is firmly aligned with the objectives of the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), which prioritises industrialisation, value chain development, infrastructure investment, export-led growth, and private sector–driven economic transformation. However, policy ambition must be matched by effective implementation, regulatory coherence, and continuous, structured engagement with business. Competitiveness will not emerge by chance; it must be deliberately built.

In 2026, the ZNCC will sharpen its focus on thought leadership and advocacy that advances practical reforms to lower the cost of doing business, improve policy predictability, crowd in investment, and unlock industrial capacity. We will actively champion productivity enhancement, industrial upgrading, SME scaling, innovation adoption, and export readiness. Particular emphasis will be placed on enabling Zimbabwean firms to take full advantage of regional and continental opportunities, especially under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Equally important, the Chamber will continue to serve as a credible bridge between the public and private sectors—promoting constructive dialogue, evidence-based policy engagement, and solutions that support sustainable industrial growth. Our role is not merely to highlight constraints, but to co-create pathways that enable businesses to compete, grow, and thrive.

The journey from resilience to competitiveness demands intentional action, shared responsibility, and disciplined execution from all stakeholders—government, business, labour, financiers, and development partners alike. If we succeed, Zimbabwe can shift from managing constraints to unlocking potential, from survival to scale, and from endurance to excellence.

I encourage all our members and partners to embrace this agenda with confidence and purpose. Together, let us chart a new path towards sustainable industrial growth, stronger enterprises, and lasting national prosperity.

I wish you a productive, competitive, and impactful year ahead.

Yours in Chamber service,

Tapiwa D. Karoro

President

Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce