The imposition of duties on selected textile products is a strategic move to buttress domestic production and stimulate investment, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube has said.
Speaking during the Post Budget Breakfast Meeting co-hosted by Zimpapers and the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries on Monday, he said the measures were meant to create a conducive environment for local producers to thrive and enhance the competitiveness of their products.
In the 2026 National Budget, the Treasury imposed a 300 percent duty on selected textile products to support local production.
The approach aligns with the aspirations of the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) and is positioned as an essential tool for economic development and job creation within the country.
However, some players in the clothing sector have strongly opposed the move, arguing that local textile firms lack the current capacity to produce adequate fabric to meet domestic demand.
“The industry that has been revived in the country produces about 1 percent of fabrics needed by the country,” argued one delegate at the Post Budget Breakfast Meeting.
Zimbabwe Clothing Manufacturers Association (ZCMA) chairman Jeremy Youmans reportedly said the intended duty of 40 percent should only apply to finished goods, not fabric, which is a raw material for the clothing industry and an intermediate goods for home textile manufacturers.
“The duties we have imposed… we are being driven by the need to support local production and local investments,” said the Minister, responding the delegate who had raised concern over the imposition of the tariff. “So, this is an incentive to invest locally and create jobs,” he added.
“It is not an incentive to punish (other players) or anything like that. It is a need to drive domestic investment.”
The textile industry appears to be on the cusp of revival following significant investment over the past few years, with David Whitehead Textiles—a traditional giant—expected to anchor this resurgence.
For more than two decades after the turn of the millennium, the industry was largely dormant after a number of key companies, including David Whitehead, Merlin, and Kadoma Textiles, folded.
The collapse was driven by a host of factors, including a challenging economic environment, the influx of cheap imports and second-hand clothing, which crippled local competitiveness, insufficient investment, and a lack of access to financing for retooling.
Minister Ncube underscored the Government’s balanced approach, signalling a willingness to work with the private sector to achieve the national goal of industrialisation without erecting a complete trade barrier.
“We are happy to engage you to see how we can transition to have more local production, less imports, but without cutting off imports completely,” he said.
Economic analysts suggest the transition from imports to locally produced goods will inevitably hurt some businesses in the short term, but they contend the “pain” is necessary to create a strong industrial base for the country.
They say those businesses that embrace the policy—by investing in local production, expanding capacity, and adapting their models to domestic sourcing requirements—are expected to be the long-term winners in the new economic framework.
The Government is setting the stage to deepen industrial linkages and optimise value chains by operationalising the Local Content Strategy under the National Development Strategy 2.
The major policy drive will leverage the Government’s substantial purchasing power to ensure domestic products are prioritised across all sectors.
The NDS2 will enforce mandatory local content thresholds for strategic sectors, specifically requiring the use of local raw materials in production.
“This will promote local content and inculcate the Buy Zimbabwe culture to increase the uptake of domestic raw materials, services and components in locally manufactured goods,” says the NDS 2, emphasising this approach is vital for “fostering inter-industry linkages and supporting a wider base of local businesses.”
To achieve this, the Government is strengthening local content and procurement frameworks, introducing compliance incentives and consolidating procurement to prioritise local sourcing.
This is designed to create a stable, large market for local manufacturers using the government’s “significant purchasing power.”
Recognising its role as the country’s single largest buyer, the Government will strategically leverage public procurement to facilitate the industrialisation of key value chains and create jobs.
Under the NDS2, new interventions will be introduced “to stimulate demand for domestically produced products, thereby supporting enterprise growth, creating decent jobs and moving the economy up the value chain towards inclusive and sustainable industrialisation.”
The post-budget breakfast meeting was hosted by Zimpapers in partnership with the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries.-herald
