Zim’s Business Confidence Plummets, CEOs Express Concerns Over Political Impact
By Business Reporter
The country’s business community is increasingly losing confidence about the future trajectory of Zimbabwe’s economy, driven macroeconomic instability and political uncertainties.
Addressing journalists during the presentation of the 2023 third-quarter in Harare recently, CEO Africa RoundTable Chairman, Oswell Binha indicated a pessimistic outlook for the economy.
“The lndex reveals that businesses are increasingly losing confidence about the future trajectory of Zimbabwe’s economy, driven by factors such as macroeconomic instability, exchange rate and inflation volatility, policy inconsistencies and dwindling consumer confidence.
“The index indicates a negative outlook for the economy with 54.5 percent of the respondents projecting that the economic environment will be worse in the final quarter of 2023 compared to the 3rd quarter of 2023. The overall confidence level for the 3rd Quarter of 2023 was -40.9 which indicates that the CEOs and senior executives in the country are pessimistic about the overall economic performance,” said Binha
He drew attention to the intricate relationship between politics and the economy, highlighting that when politics in Zimbabwe experiences instability, the economy inevitably suffers.
“There is no country anywhere in the world that has got no politics, but the dilemma we have in Zimbabwe is that when our politics catch a cold, the economy freezes,” he said
Binha underscored the need for a shift in the political landscape towards a more developmental focus.
“Apparently, with that position we have realised it has been affecting us for a long time, we believe that the feedback from the CEOs is talking about politics that is developmental, politics that supports productivity and the politics that ensures the integrity of national institutions and the politics that provides us with the impetus to engage the external markets without the what if question,” he said
The Business Confidence lndex highlights the insights and opinion of the CEOs and Senior Executives from both public and private sector.
