Zimbabwe on the right track- Foreign Minister

Mr Speaker, without dwelling for too long on detail, let me point out that, with the exception of Horticulture and Clothing and Textiles exports, all others export sectors including Processed Foods, Manufactured Tobacco and Hides and Skins reflected very welcome increases in performance and export revenue over the first 8 months of 2020 performance to which we can attribute the global 4.9% increase in export performance, by value,  over the same period in 2019.

On Horticulture, although the 2020 figures are somewhat disappointing, this is a sector poised for massive growth in the coming years.  Because of Covid-19, the global demand for so-called “super-foods” is soaring.  Super-Foods, for the uninitiated, include avocado pears, blueberries, macadamia nuts, bananas, pineapples, citrus-fruit, mangos and so on products with a high content of essential vitamins, useful for boosting the body’s immune system to fight-off disease, including viral diseases such as Covid-19 and influenza.

Zimbabwe is well placed to respond to this increased global demand and I am aware that trade and investment enquiries related to our horticulture sector are being received and processed.

Mr Speaker, the year is not over.  Our conservative forecast, however, is that total exports for 2020 should be in the region of US$ 3.997 billion. Sceptics and critics will point out that this is only marginally better than the export performance recorded in 2019 where, as already mentioned,  our exports totalled US$ 3.98 billion.

The point Mr Speaker is that, in spite of everything which mother nature, Covid 19 and sanctions have thrown at us over the past years, our producers and exporters have managed not only to stay afloat but to swim.  I actually find it quite remarkable, but at the same time very Zimbabwean, that notwithstanding these obstacles and challenges, we just keep pushing ahead, striving to succeed and indeed succeeding.

Mr Speaker, raw materials, machinery, equipment, fuel, electricity, motor vehicles and motor spares continue to dominate our imports. The fuel and electricity import bill for 2019 was US$ 1.34 billion, down 26% from the US$ 1.87 billion recorded in 2018.  2020 figures, for the period January to end August, confirm that fuel imports totalled US$ 570 million, 45% down on the US$ 1.042 billion fuel import bill over the same period in 2019 reflecting subdued industrial, commercial and tourism activity due to the Corona-19 containment measures, but possibly also reflecting the effectiveness of the liberalisation measures introduced in the fuel sector and the consequent closing-down of opportunities for arbitrage and other dubious practices which were so prevalent in that sector.

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