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Zimbabwe’s top manufacturing and exporter Paramount Exports which boasts of two factories one in Bulawayo and another in Harare with over 2000 employees have seen the country’s trade promotion body, ZimTrade’s Annual Exporter’s Conference which kicked-off in Harare last Wednesday, with buyers from four countries outlining processes and regulatory frameworks in their different markets.
Paramount Archer its Bulawayo Factory and Paramount Garments which hails from Harare have both seen the uptake of Zimbabwe’s cotton to clothing value chain Industry which was supposed to have garnered results by 2019 continue on an upward trajectory in 2022-2023.
Zimtrade held a two-day conference running under the theme, ‘Inclusive, Diversified and Connected’, which is in line with the country’s export strategy targeting an annual 10 percent growth in export earnings.
Contacted for comment, Paramount Exports Group Finance Director FD Jeremy Youmans was optimistic the Zimbabwe cotton to clothing strategy will go beyond the astronomical market results of 2019 going beyond Expectations though he cited that, “Association Cotton Value Adders of Zimbabwe must have their concerns implemented and not just highlighted by the Zimbabwe Government.”
Youmans said, “Zimbabwe needs to implement more do more and talk less.”
Regional Buyers from Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Ghana who are championing regional trade integration in light of the African Continental Free Trade Area gave an insight into opportunities in their jurisdictions, stressing the need for exporters to strictly adhere to set regulations and procedures for sustainability.
“I am glad to be here at this exporters’ conference where I want to highlight unlimited export opportunities for Zimbabwean products to Malawi as the country does not produce anything but relies largely on South Africa, hence the need to explore the competitive advantage gap,” said a buyer from Malawi, Elvis Madekutsikwa.
“The Zambian export market as well as its currency have been declared the best performing within the region over the past year, with Zambia’s manufacturing sector still lagging behind, it is time for Zimbabwean products to strengthen their presence in Zambia and that’s the reason we are here,” noted Newton Magoronga from Zambia.
Ghanaian buyer, Michael Manirakiza said, “Ghana is a huge market which has remained untapped, but I want to thank Zimtrade for inviting us here for the second time this year and I want to say our initial encounter earlier this year is bearing fruit as a number of Zimbabwean products are finding their way to Ghana as we speak.”
The ZimTrade Operations Director, Mr Similo Nkala was also optimistic interactions between buyers and exporters will culminate in monetary value for the country.
“We have witnessed a lot of export growth even at micro level because of these interactions that we continue to explore in different markets that we have gone to through our outward sellers missions that we have been ongoing consistency for three years now,” said Nkala.
Minister of Finance and Economic Development Professor Mthuli Ncube National Development Strategy One Nds1, Zimbabwe is targeting an export-led economy, hence ZimTrade’s offensive on the African continent in search of export opportunities for local businesses especially outperforming ones like Paramount Archer which still Exports 60% of its manufactured Garments contributing immensely to the second Republic’s vision.
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