THE Zimbabwean government’s decision to enact the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Act could jeopardise the country’s debt-servicing efforts. The law, which regulates NGOs has been facing criticism for restricting civic space. Its impact is already being felt, with the European Union discontinuing governance funding—the second such move since Zimbabwe’s disputed 2023 elections. “Zimbabwe has…
ZIMBABWE has witnessed an increase in remittances between 2009 and 2020, during the time when the country was going through some serious politically induced economic shocks, data analysed by IOW Data has shown. Diaspora remittances, are financial transfers sent by individuals living and working abroad back to their home countries. An increase in remittances in…
TRENDS from international data sources have revealed that the majority of Zimbabweans have struggled to access electricity over the past decades. Electricity is crucial for poverty alleviation, economic growth, and improved living standards. Data from Microtrends, accessed via The World Bank, shows that since 1992, the percentage of the population with access to electricity has…
DATA on Zimbabwe’s HIV/AIDS funding has shown that the country has been mainly relying on foreign aid, with domestic public funding dwindling between 2017 and 2023. The data shows the country had an international funding dividend alone in 2023. In the same period, Zimbabwe, with help from PEPFAR and USAID, reached the Joint United Nations…
ZIMBABWE is still trailing behind in the technological race to benefit from artificial intelligence, falling slightly below the regional and international average readiness scores on the Oxford Insights 2024 Government AI Readiness Index. The country scored 32.59 in 2024, against a regional average of 32.70 for Sub-Saharan Africa, while the global average score for AI…
DATA from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) shows that the share of Zimbabwe’s population facing malnutrition increased between 2012 and 2022, despite a significant decline between 2000 and 2011. During this period, the percentage rose from 25.5% in 2012 to a peak of 39.5% in 2020. The sharp increase in malnutrition is a complex issue with multiple…
ZIMBABWE’S trade as a share of GDP slumped during years of political turmoil and uncertainty, worsening the economic crisis, historical data processed by IOW Data has revealed. Trade as a share of GDP is the sum of exports and imports of goods and services measured as a share of gross domestic product. Historical data have shown that…
Data from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) has shown that corruption cases account for one of the lowest numbers of new prisoner admissions in the fourth quarter of 2024, despite the country performing poorly on corruption indices. According to the data, only 48 individuals were admitted to prison for corruption during this period out…
AN analysis of Auditor-General reports, spanning from 2020 to 2023, has revealed a critical failure among Zimbabwean local authorities to establish fundamental risk management policies, raising accountability fears. Risk management policies are crafted to guide institutions on how they can manage economic pitfalls that possibly lead to financial losses. Hence, the failure by local authorities to…
ZIMBABWE’S manufacturing industry, though the largest single driver of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is showing sluggish growth, according to the latest 2023 Economic Census data. The census, which mapped 204,798 enterprises, shows that over 70% of business establishments are in wholesale, while only 8% are in manufacturing. The sector contributes 15.3% to GDP…
