According to Mark & Associates Consulting Group (M&A), a strategic advisory firm, the year 2024 will be marked by policy shifts and uncertainty. Businesses in Zimbabwe should be prepared to enter uncharted economic waters in 2024.
The business community is already seized with an ambiguous policy environment and uncertainties around regulations, taxes and revenue measures introduced in the 2024 National Budget.
It is a fact that most African governments are squeezed between poor citizens and big financial holes in public coffers. It is also a reality that depending on aid or hand-outs alone will not do the trick and politicians across Africa are asking more of their tax collectors. It appears that taxing citizens is the only feasible solution within their reach.
We should expect a lot of altering of both fiscal and monetary policies in 2024 which would undoubtedly usher an unstable business environment. High levels of policy uncertainty will also lower investment, employment, and economic output.
On another note, the informalisation trend in Zimbabwe is expected to continue in 2024. Different economic shocks have impacted the structure and shape of the Zimbabwean economy. With limited formal employment opportunities (especially for youth), there has been escalation of self-employment with some citizens moving into vending and small businesses.
There is clear evidence the Zimbabwean economy is now largely informal given a proliferation of informal tuck-shops and road-side businesses (RSBs).
Our assessment of the business environment (taxes, cost of formalisation and regulations) suggests a trend of an explosion of RSBs as the informal economy becomes more entrenched in 2024 and beyond.
M&A, in partnership with FINX will host a Zimbabwe 2024 Outlook & Strategy Conference titled “Exploring Growth Strategies for 2024 and Beyond” that will be held on March 8 in Harare. The vision is earmarked at engaging business leaders, policy makers and the investor community in terms of mapping out strategies for 2024 and beyond.
- Advisory firm to host 2024 outlook, strategy indaba
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In addition, the conference is set to give direction on the policy environment while also catalysing collaboration amongst industry players in Zimbabwe. A key highlight is that the tax proposals in the 2024 National Budget have triggered a lot of attention in terms of the impact it will have on the consumption patterns of individuals, households and businesses.
The focus of the conference will also be to gather different perspectives and recommendations from industry experts, analysts and economists with an objective of influencing policy, particularly on fiscal and monetary policy.
The event will also take a deep dive into key trends and risks that still exist and continue to hamper the potential for sustainable growth in Zimbabwe. Several economic constraints in the form of (i) cost-push inflation, (ii) growing poverty levels, (iii) an explosion of the informal economy, (iv) wide-spread economic inequality, and (v) a mass exodus (brain-drain) of skilled labour from Zimbabwe have been identified.
The following are the broad focus areas to be covered:
2024 outlook and strategy observations;
Fiscal policy developments;
Monetary policy developments;
The Mutapa Investment Fund and privatisation of state-owned enterprises;
The Chinese investment philosophy in Zimbabwe;
Corruption and corporate governance issues in private and public sector;
Positioning Zimbabwe for the African Continental Free Trade Area;
The Victoria Falls Stock Exchange, as a capital raising option for local businesses;
The political economy and its impact on investor sentiment;
Investment opportunities in the Zimbabwean mining sector;
Investment opportunities in the Zimbabwean agricultural sector.
The Zimbabwe 2024 Outlook & Strategy Conference is expected to attract delegates from different spheres of the economy, and this should include policy makers, parastatal executives, insurance firms, pension fund managers, local authorities executives, development finance institutions, private equity investors, legal practitioners, bankers, property developers, regulators and academia.
The speaker line-up includes top officials in government, prominent analysts and economists and key decision-makers.
The Zimbabwe 2024 Outlook & Strategy Conference is an impactful event that also provides a unique marketing and networking opportunity for local businesses. In addition, we envisage that this initiative will (i) build capacity amongst businesses in Zimbabwe (ii) promote idea generation through information sharing and (iii) provide a powerful platform to network and collaborate across different sectors of the economy.
- For registration and sponsorships e-mail [email protected] or call +263 783 584 745.
- Matsika is the managing partner at Mark & Associates and founder of PiggyBankAdvisor.
