Zimbabwe has one of
the highest costs of
doing business in
the region from a
logistics perspective.
It costs an average of
US$6 160 and takes 71 days
to import a container into
Zimbabwe, according to the
2015 World Bank Ease of
Doing Business rankings.
Zimbabwe dropped four
places in the “trading across
borders” category, from 176th
to 180th in the world.
The country has, however,
moved up one point – from
172 out of 189 countries in
2014 to 171st in 2015 in the
overall ranking.
Put in the regional context,
South Africa is rated 43rd,
Botswana 74th, Namibia
88th, Swaziland 110th,
Zambia 111th, Mozambique
127th, Lesotho 128th, and
Angola 181st.
Zimbabwe is well below
regional and international
benchmarks when it comes
to importing and exporting,
according to the World Bank.
The 71 days it takes to
import a container into
Zimbabwe compares poorly
against the Sub-Saharan
Africa average of 37.6
days and Organisation for
Economic Co-Operation
and Development (OECD)
average of 9.6 days.
It takes an average of 42
days to process the import
documents required by the
Zimbabwean authorities, at a
cost of US$360.
Inland transportation and
handling takes a further 14
days, at a cost of US$5 000.
Exporters are a little
more competitive, with an
average cost of US$4 265
per container (against
regional average of
US$2 200.7 and OECD
average of US$1 080.3.
It takes 53 days to export
a container, compared to the
regional average of 305 days
and OECD average of 10.5
days.
On the positive side,
despite the widely reported
shortage of capital in
Zimbabwe, it moved from
147th to 104th in the “getting
credit” category.
Other improvements were
“getting electricity” (up four
places to 153rd – compared
to 158th for South Africa),
and registering property (up
one place to 94th).
INSERT
World Bank Ease of Doing
Business rankings
Singapore 1
South Africa 43
Botswana 74
Namibia 88
Swaziland 110
Zambia 111
Mozambique 127
Lesotho 128
Zimbabwe 171
Angola 181
Eritrea 189
