A new report by the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) says capacity utilization across major business sectors marginally improved to 58 percent in 2025 from the 53,8 percent recorded in 2024.
The 2025 annual state of industry and commerce survey report also shows that the 2025 business confidence index is positive at 7.36 and greater than the 2024 value of 1.40.
This indicates that businesses remain cautiously optimistic and are positive about the coming year’s prospects.
“About 82 percent, 81 percent, and 60 percent of the respondents cited macroeconomic stability, exchange rate stability and increased demand as the main reasons weighing up increased capacity utilization,” the report said.
The topical issue in the survey was the country’s relatively new currency, the ZiG and its acceptance, stability and impact on business.
“The findings show generally positive sentiments among businesses on the ZiG’s performance. About 59 percent indicated that the ZiG was widely accepted, while 39 percent believed its acceptance was limited.
“Only 2 percent reported that the ZiG was not widely used in their operations, a group composed mainly of companies in the fuel and gas sector,” the report said.
Regarding its impact, 62 percent of businesses stated that their performance had improved due to the stability of the ZiG.
Many businesses, however, remain skeptical about the future of the ZiG. 62 percent believe the ZiG will become unstable in the future, 79 percent expect exchange rate instability, and 74 percent doubt the current macroeconomic stability will be maintained.
“The main reason cited for these concerns is the election cycles and dollarization talk. Businesses noted that the pre-election period in Zimbabwe is typically associated with fiscal indiscipline.
“Consequently, most businesses (76 percent) believe the conditions are not yet suitable for full dedollarisation,” the report said.
This view is further supported by their preferred currency regimes. Most businesses (84 percent) favour either the US dollar (62 percent) or a multicurrency system (22 percent), while only 16 percent prefer the ZiG.
“The implication of these findings is that a sudden de-dollarisation could be harmful. Instead, a gradual dedollarisation process supported by long-term confidence-building measures is likely to yield better results for Zimbabwe.
“The business environment remains constrained by excessive licensing requirements and fragmented regulatory processes,” the report said.
This comes as the government is currently implementing notable regulatory reforms to reduce costs and improve the business climate. Key measures include simplifying licensing procedures in agriculture, tourism and transport by consolidating permits and eliminating unnecessary fees.
