Harare, (New Ziana) – The manufacturing and mining sectors in Zimbabwe have reported mixed performances in the fourth quarter of last year, according to results of a survey that the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) has released.

Overall however, the survey suggests that while there are some positive trends in the manufacturing and mining sectors, challenges such as electricity shortages, cash flow difficulties, and economic uncertainty continue to hinder growth.

The survey revealed that the capacity utilization for large manufacturing companies stood at 57.9 percent in Q4 2024, up from 57.5 percent in Q3 2024.

However, small and medium-sized companies in the sector reported a lower capacity utilization rate of 46.2 percent.

The overall capacity utilization for the manufacturing sector was 47.9 percent in Q4 2024, up from 47.1 percent in Q3.

In the mining sector, 20.5 percent of respondents expressed optimism towards the general business climate in Q4 2024, compared to 19.8 percent in the manufacturing sector.

The survey also revealed that 40.2 percent of respondents in the manufacturing sector reported unchanged production levels in Q4 2024, while 19.3 percent reported an increase. In the mining sector, 53.0 percent of respondents reported unchanged production levels.

Employment levels remained largely unchanged in both sectors, with 67.7 percent of respondents in the manufacturing sector and 69.9 percent in the mining sector reporting no changes.

The survey identified three major constraints to production in both sectors, namely shortage of electricity, cash flow difficulties, and economic environment uncertainty.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector increased to 35.9 in Q4 2024, up from 35.0 in Q3 2024.

However, the Manufacturing Confidence Index decreased to -4.6 in Q4 2024, from 2.1 in Q3 2024 while the Mining Confidence Index also decreased to -4.9 in Q4 2024, from 7.3 in Q3 2024.

New Ziana