The ManicaPost
Cletus Mushanawani
News Editor
MANICALAND’s provincial Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is growing, with agriculture outpacing the wholesale and retail sector in contributing to the growth, The Manica Post has learned.
The provincial GDP in 2022 jumped to ZWL$21.8 billion, up from ZWL$20.5 billion recorded in 2012.
This resulted in a growth rate of 6.1 percent.
The 2022 provincial GDP figures were announced by Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) director-general, Mr Taguma Mahonde, early this week.
The measurement of provincial GDP is based on the production approach which estimates GDP by industry.
The compilation follows the 2008 System of National Accounts.
Mr Mahonde said agriculture, forestry and fishing were the dominant economic activities in 2022, accounting for 19.9 percent of the provincial GDP.
“Wholesale and retail trade contributed 18.8 percent, while the mining and quarrying industry accounted for 14.6 percent of the provincial GDP.” said Mr Mahonde.
The manufacturing industry accounted for 10.5 percent of the provincial GDP, finance and insurance activities (5.9 percent), information and communication (5.5 percent), real estate activities (2.7 percent), human health and social work (2.5 percent).
In an interview, Director for Economic Development in the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Manicaland Provincial Affairs, Mr Munyaradzi Rubaya said Manicaland’s GDP per capita moved up from ZWL9 975 in 2021 to ZWL10 900.
“As a province we moved one position up the provincial GDP rankings, from sixth to fifth position in 2022.
“Manicaland contributed 9.7 percent to the national GDP. In terms of GDP growth, Manicaland had 6.1 percent growth. Moving up the growth rankings is a great achivement. This is positive and encouraging.
“The major sectors that contributed to Manicaland’s GDP growth include agriculture, wholesale and retail, mining, manufacturing and financial services.
“It is important to note that the agricultural sector outperformed the manufacturing sector in 2022, compared to 2021. In 2021, the wholesale and retail sector contributed 25.7 percent of the provincial GDP, while in 2022, it contributed 18.8 percent. In 2021, the agriculture sector contributed 14.4 percent; while it jumped to 19.9 percent in 2022,” he said.
Mr Rubaya attributed the growth in the agriculture sector to a good season in 2022 and various Government interventions which saw the province recording a 162 percent increase in cereal production.
“In 2022, we had a very good agricultural season in the province. We surpassed our wheat production target by 10 percent. We are excited about the developments happening in the agriculture sector and we hope this growth trajectory will continue as this will also ensure food security for the province,” he said.
Although Manicaland has some of the best tourism facilities in the country, the sector is not contributing much towards the provincial GDP, something that is a cause for concern.
“We are worried about the performance of the tourism sector in the province. This sector did not significantly contribute to the provincial GDP. We have some of the best tourism sites and facilities and we expect the tourism sector to be one of our major GDP drivers.
“Players in this sector need to work extra hard to ensure that we get value from it. There is a lot of potential in this sector and we are positive that growth will be realised soon,” said Mr Rubaya.
According to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, the tourism sector contributed US$5.5 million to the provincial GDP in 2022; which is a very small contribution to the economy.
The province had a total number of nine projects or investments in the tourism sector last year.
Key performance indicators in the tourism sector include average hotel room occupancy, national parks and museum entries, tourism receipts (revenue) and tourism investments.
In 2022, the average hotel room occupancy for Mutare/Vumba was on 45 percent, while Nyanga was sitting on 51 percent.
