Bulawayo, (New Ziana)-As part of broader efforts to stimulate investment and industrial growth, the Zimbabwe government is making headway in cutting the cost of doing business through reducing the number of licenses required across several sectors to operate, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 2026 Pre-Budget Seminar in Bulawayo on Friday, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said the number of licenses required to start or operate a business had been reduced, while fees for the remaining ones had also been lowered.
“Licenses to open a certain business have been reduced, and the individual cost of what is left has also been lowered. This is going a long way in supporting business,” he said.
He said the private sector has received the move well, following positive feedback from business leaders.
Gazetting of the required Statutory Instruments (SIs), which would be done before the start of the 2026 budget cycle on January 1 next year, was however delaying the implementation of the changes, he said.
“What’s taking longer is the gazetting of the SIs that will make sure these changes can be implemented. We don’t want to disturb the budgets of some institutions where we are cutting back on fees, so these changes will take effect from January 1, 2026. The SIs are coming through one by one,” he said.
Ncube said some of the new measures would also be included in the Finance Bill, which government is set to present to Parliament at the end of this month for approval.
He added that progress had already been made in reviewing business costs in 12 sectors, including livestock, dairy, feedstock, tourism, retail, wholesale, transport, and energy, with the remaining sectors such as crops and manufacturing being finalized in the coming weeks.
Turning to the 2025 budget performance, Ncube said government revenues and expenditures were largely on track despite exchange rate variations.
He said by September, the government had collected ZiG156.3 billion against expenditures of ZiG151.7 billion, out of a projected annual revenue of ZIG270.3 billion (US$7.5 billion) and expenditure of ZiG276.4 billion (US$7.7 billion).
“Revenue collection remains strong, with VAT (Value Added Tax) contributing 23.7percent, Income Tax 19.3 percent, Excise Duty 11.5 percent, Corporate Income Tax 11.2 percent, and Customs 6.9 percent,” Ncube said.
He noted that differences between projected and actual figures were partly due to exchange rate fluctuations, with the budget initially based on an average rate of ZiG36 per United States dollar, compared to the current ZiG26.7 per United States dollar.
On expenditure, Ncube said recurrent spending remained the largest component at ZiG115.3 billion, including ZiG71 billion for employee compensation, ZiG31 billion for goods and services, and ZiG36.5 billion for capital projects.
“Average budget utilization across Ministries stood at 56 percent between January and September, but adjusted to about 70 percent when exchange rate factors were considered. The Transport and Housing Ministries, along with the Office of the President and Cabinet, were among the few that had overspent their allocations. Some of the overspending, particularly by the Ministry of Transport, relates to the use of Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) revenues on road development. When we include that under government expenditure, it pushes up the total,” he explained.
Ncube said the Treasury would continue working with line Ministries to ensure full and efficient budget execution before the end of the fiscal year, ahead of the presentation of the 2026 National Budget later this month.
New Ziana
