Zimbabwe’s economic growth adjusted down to 2%

By Annelie Coleman |16 July 2024 | 5:30 am

Zimbabwe’s finance minister, Mthuli Ncube, announced a downward revision of the country’s economic growth forecast for 2024 due to Southern Africa’s worst drought in decades, which has severely impacted crop yields.

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Ncube told Reuters earlier this month that economic growth was estimated at 2% for 2024, down from 3,5% predicted in November 2023, due to the El Niño-induced drought that had led to widespread crop failure.

Zimbabwe was among the hardest hit by drought in the region. Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi declared states of disaster as a result of the drought and diminished crop yields.

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“We are reducing our growth targets for 2024 because of the deeper than expected impact on our agriculture, but next year is brighter. Growth is expected to recover to above 5% in 2025,” Ncube said.

In May this year, the Zimbabwean government forecast that staple maize production would by 72% in the 2023/24 season. Ncube added that the drought had affected agriculture output to such an extent that the country would have to import about 1,4 million tons of grain.

According to a Bloomberg report, Zimbabwe recently received R575,46 million from African Risk Capacity, an arm of the African Union, as part of an insurance payout for the devastation that the country suffered from the drought.

The money was expected to benefit 509 000 households and was divided between the state, the UN’s World Food Programme, and local aid.

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Rwanda had meanwhile donated 1 000t of maize to Zimbabwe to address the challenges posed by the drought. This assistance came in response to the declaration of a state of disaster earlier in 2024.

Zimbabwe’s minister of foreign affairs and international trade, Frederick Shava, said the humanitarian assistance from Rwanda would help alleviate the effects of the drought.