Govt Urged to Look Beyond Vision 2030 Amid Warnings of Middle-Income Trap – The Zimbabwe Mail

📅 Published: August 18, 2025

📰 Source: thezimbabwemail_enhanced

Curated by AllZimNews.com

The President said the fiscal space now allows greater investment in agriculture, health, education, infrastructure and social protection.

Economists say the President’s message is a timely warning against complacency.

They caution that while attainingupper middle-income status by 2030will be a landmark achievement, Zimbabwe must avoid the“middle-income trap”— a scenario where countries experience stagnation, vulnerability to commodity price shocks, and limited innovation. “Vision 2030 positions Zimbabwe for strong transformation, but breaking the ceiling means scaling up productivity in agriculture, mining and manufacturing, while rapidly building a competitive digital economy,” said economistMr Tinashe Dube.

He stressed that Zimbabwe’s vast lithium, platinum and gold reserves must beprocessed locallyinto higher-value products, creating skilled jobs and boosting foreign currency inflows.

Another economist,Ms Alice Chikonzi, emphasised investment in human capital. “To be a high-income economy, we need to invest heavily in education, research and innovation.

Universities must partner with industry to solve challenges in agriculture, energy and manufacturing, the same way South Korea and Singapore overcame middle-income traps,” she said.

She called for stronger support for technology hubs and start-ups in ICT, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing.

Industrial analystMr Amon Dubehighlighted the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a game-changer. “The AfCFTA offers Zimbabwe access to a consumer market of 1,3 billion people.

If we position ourselves as a competitive manufacturer and service provider in the region, we will be on the path to high-income status,” he said.

Business strategistMr Busani Malabaadded that mindset and policy consistency will determine whether Zimbabwe surpasses Vision 2030. “We must have the courage to dream bigger and refuse to be limited by targets we can surpass,” he said.

He called for aggressivebeneficiationof lithium, platinum, gold and chrome, as well as investment in downstream industries such asbattery manufacturing, jewellery production and agro-processing.

He also urged rapid irrigation expansion, modernisation of logistics infrastructure, increased broadband coverage and a stronger push into renewable energy.