ZIMBABWE’S top envoy to India, Ambassador Stella Nkomo, has underscored the urgency of transforming Harare and New Delhi ties into concrete trade and investment partnerships based on the shared strategic vision for growth.
As Zimbabwe continues to pursue Vision 2030, the focus is shifting towards deepening economic cooperation with India, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
According to the International Trade Centre, Zimbabwe’s exports to India were above US$46 million in 2024, up from just US$65 000 in 2017.
Imports from India in 2024, however, stood at a staggering US$189.6 million, highlighting a considerable trade gap.
Speaking ahead of the CHALO ZIMBABWE 2025 business engagement scheduled for August 22 in Surat, India, Ambassador Nkomo disclosed that Harare is prioritising economic diplomacy to translate strong political friendship into meaningful trade and investment partnerships.
“Our trade volumes are currently skewed in favour of India and those are some of the issues that we want to improve on. We believe India is a strategic country to do business with. They are not just one of the biggest economies in South Asia, but they are one of the emerging big economies globally. Therefore, as a country, I think it is very critical for us to have that relationship with a country that is on the move,” she said
“Zimbabwe and India share a lot of commonalities. Our ambitious vision as a country is to attain a middle-income status by 2030. Theirs is to be a developed society by 2047. So we have a lot of hard work, we have a lot of strategies that are very much in sync because we are pushing forward to reach those targets. Whereas on the political and friendship front we are doing very well, we need to talk about decent trade figures.”
Zimbabwe exports tobacco, gold, and other minerals to India, while imports are dominated by pharmaceuticals, machinery, and electrical equipment.
With trade still heavily skewed in favour of India, Zimbabwe is stepping up efforts to strengthen its export base and attract new investments in energy, mining, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.
