THE language now coming from Zimbabwe’s business leaders confirms what has long been argued: The country’s industries are on the brink. Any serious administration would treat this as a moment for urgent action.
When six industrial lobbies, after meeting the minister of Industry and Commerce last month, called for a “Marshall Plan”, they were not reaching for hyperbole.
The call is not mere rhetoric.
They were delivering the blunt assessment of those who run the foundations of our economy. From their vantage point, the economy has reached a crisis point.
By invoking that phrase, they were drawing a direct parallel to post-World War II Europe, which in 1948 required unprecedented intervention to avert collapse.
Cities had been reduced to rubble, industries lay in ruins, transport and supply chains had been shattered, millions were homeless, and famine was barrelling through that part of the world.
The original “Marshall Plan”, formally the European Recovery Programme, channelled over US$12 billion — worth around US$140 billion today — in grants and loans to rebuild shattered industries, restore trade, stabilise currencies, and prevent political and social disintegration.
It worked because it was decisive, coordinated, and rooted in practical solutions.
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Zimbabwe’s crisis may not have been triggered by bombs, but its effects are just as corrosive. Retail and wholesale operators have already lost US$3 billion in value.
Long-established brands are closing, retrenching, or downsizing. Industry leaders warn of a fragile recovery that can only be rescued by swift, coordinated intervention.
The measures needed are not far-fetched. Practical steps can be taken immediately.
They include dismantling the maze of licences suffocating businesses, slashing punitive taxes, stabilising power supply, taming exchange rate volatility, and providing sector-specific concessionary financing.
These steps would not require an arm and a leg, only political will. Without them, more companies will collapse, jobs will vanish, and supply chains will unravel, dragging the economy deeper into crisis.
Structural weaknesses compound the problem. Roughly 76% of businesses now operate informally, fleeing punishment instead of responding to incentives.
Multiple taxation and overlapping environmental levies penalise firms at every stage of production.
Lending rates of 30–40% in local currency and 18% in US dollars choke off investment, while a yawning US$9 billion trade deficit steadily erodes the industrial base.
Zimbabwe’s industries are under siege. Incremental or cosmetic measures will not suffice.
The call for a “Marshall Plan” is a warning that only bold, state-led action — anchored in partnership with the private sector - can prevent full-blown collapse.
