Permanent Secretary for Presidential Affairs and Devolution Engineer Tafadzwa Muguti, has called for strengthened use of socio-economic data and evidence-based planning to accelerate Zimbabwe’s development agenda and improve provincial performance monitoring.
Speaking at the official opening of the Provincial Socio-Economic Indices Training Workshop at the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration and Management (ZIPAM) in Darwendale on Monday, Mr Muguti said economic indicators had become indispensable tools for effective governance, policy formulation, resource allocation and measuring development outcomes.
The five-day workshop, running from June 14 to 18, brings together Secretaries for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Provincial Development Coordinators, statisticians, planners and other government officials to strengthen analytical and planning capacities at provincial level.
Mr Muguti said Zimbabwe’s development agenda under the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) and Vision 2030 increasingly relies on data, evidence and measurable outcomes.
“Successful governance depends on accurate and reliable data. What gets measured gets managed,” he said.
He noted that the implementation of devolution and decentralisation under Chapter 14 of the Constitution requires stronger provincial planning, monitoring and evaluation systems capable of identifying opportunities, detecting risks and informing timely interventions.
The Permanent Secretary highlighted key socio-economic indicators including Gross Domestic Product (GDP), provincial economic growth rates, employment statistics, productivity levels, poverty indices, investment trends, human capital development and tourism competitiveness as critical measures for tracking development performance.
He said provincial authorities require credible economic data to identify comparative advantages, prioritise investments, monitor development outcomes and promote inclusive economic growth.
Muguti further stressed that economic indices provide objective benchmarks for measuring progress and enhance transparency, accountability and public confidence in government programmes.
He challenged participants to strengthen their analytical capabilities and ensure that data generated at provincial level is transformed into actionable policy insights.
“Collecting data alone is not enough. Officials must possess the skills to interpret data and transform it into practical solutions that improve planning and development outcomes,” he said.
Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) Director General Mrs Tafadzwa Bandama reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to supporting government institutions through capacity building, methodological guidance and quality assurance in the production of official statistics.
Bandama said the attainment of Vision 2030 and the objectives of NDS2 depends on the availability of timely, reliable, accurate and internationally comparable statistics.
She emphasized that ZIMSTAT remains the official producer and custodian of statistics in Zimbabwe and called for greater collaboration across the National Statistical System.
She said the workshop would focus on methodologies for compiling and analysing key provincial indicators, including provincial GDP, employment, investment, tourism, production, poverty and human development indicators, which are essential for evidence-based policymaking and monitoring provincial development performance.
Participants are expected to examine frameworks for socio-economic performance measurement and strengthen their capacity to generate, analyse and utilise economic information to support development planning under the devolution agenda.
The workshop is expected to contribute to the development of stronger provincial economic planning systems and improve the use of data in decision-making across government institutions as Zimbabwe advances towards becoming an upper-middle-income economy by 2030.
