Harare Metropolitan Province must prioritise jobs, public services and economic opportunities alongside growth and investment figures in its next development plan, Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Senator C. Z. Tawengwa has said.
Speaking at the official opening of the Provincial Economic Development Plan 2 (PEDP2) programme in Darwendale, Tawengwa called on government, local authorities and businesses to translate national development priorities into measurable improvements in residents’ lives.
“Harare’s development must ultimately be measured by the opportunities it creates for its people,” he said.
His remarks come as the province prepares to build on its 2021–2025 development plan, with unresolved challenges in service delivery, infrastructure, employment and access to finance.
Tawengwa cited the second-quarter 2025 Quarterly Labour Force Survey, saying it recorded national unemployment at 20.7 percent. The figure relates to Zimbabwe as a whole, rather than Harare specifically.
“This tells us that PEDP2 cannot be a document that talks about GDP and investment alone. It must also speak about jobs, skills, entrepreneurship, women and youth, human capital, health, education, social protection and the conditions under which people participate meaningfully in the economy,” he said.
Tawengwa said the new plan should draw lessons from the implementation of PEDP1, which he credited with establishing a framework for coordinated provincial development.
He reported progress in roads, housing, health, education, information and communication technology, environmental protection and industrial development.
However, the remarks provided did not include figures showing the scale of those improvements or how they compared with the previous plan’s targets.
The minister also acknowledged continuing weaknesses in spatial planning, environmental management, industrial competitiveness, investment implementation and institutional capacity.
“The lesson for PEDP2 is therefore not that PEDP1 failed,” he said. “Rather, the lesson is that the scale and complexity of Harare’s development challenges require a stronger, more integrated and more delivery-oriented development approach.”
He called for closer coordination among government departments, local authorities, businesses, communities and development partners, arguing that the province’s economic and service delivery challenges should be addressed together.
PEDP2 is intended to align Harare’s development priorities with the National Development Strategy 2 and Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030 objectives.
However, the supplied remarks did not set out a budget, specific job-creation targets or delivery deadlines. They also did not detail how residents would track implementation or hold responsible institutions accountable.
The proposals set out the provincial government’s priorities. Views from residents, businesses and independent development specialists were not included in the material provided.