Story by Yolanda Moyo
ZIMBABWE is accelerating efforts to align its industrial standards with continental trade frameworks as African countries work to remove non-tariff barriers under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
For decades, trade across Africa has been hampered by fragmented standards systems, where products approved in one country could still fail to meet compliance requirements in another.
Now, the 2025 Kigali Declaration is driving a continent-wide push for harmonised standards under the ‘One Standard, One Test, One Certificate,’ a strategy viewed as central to unlocking the AfCFTA market of more than 1.3 billion people.
For Zimbabwean exporters, compliance with regional and international benchmarks is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for competitiveness in the evolving continental marketplace.
“Looking ahead, there are critical areas where standards will play an even greater role, and there’s digital transformation and artificial intelligence-driven systems. Climate resilience and green standards. Product traceability and supply chain transparency. Cyber security and data protection frameworks. Zimbabwe must position itself proactively in these areas to remain competitive. In advancing this agenda, collaboration among national standard bodies is essential.
“SAZ places strong emphasis on cooperation with sister institutions, including KEBS of Kenya, GOST of Russia Federation, ZABS of Zambia, SABS of South Africa, BOBS of Botswana, and RSB of Rwanda, among others. Through these partnerships, we promote harmonization, mutual learning, and the credibility of African quality infrastructure, thereby strengthening regional integration and facilitating trade,” Executive Council Chairperson SAZ Engineer Nkala said.
Regional bodies such as the African Organisation for Standardisation are encouraging African countries to align with emerging global trends, including digital technologies, artificial intelligence and environmentally sustainable production systems.
“We encourage African business people, mainly the private sector, to embrace the standards. Especially go through the certification to confirm that the standard, their products are conforming to quality standards, and um, you can see the process as at the continental level that we have started to have for the ARSO quality mark. We have 17 countries in line, and we put those companies that are certified on our website. You can go to our website and check the products that are certified with the ARSO quality mark. Meaning that if now we link to the digital era, if you have those products, you are able even to confirm that they are also certified at the continental level,” Secretary General ARSO Dr Hermogene Nsengimana said.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is now advancing reforms through a proposed Standards Bill and a new National Quality Policy framework aimed at strengthening standardisation, accreditation, and conformity assessment systems.
“We are looking to introduce compulsory standards for critical products through the Standards Bill. Equally important is the need to address supply-side constraints, including infrastructure deficits, high production costs, and limited access to affordable finance. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is in the final stages of developing a new Zimbabwe National Quality Policy framework, which is aimed at consolidating the gains achieved under the first National Quality Policy, which expired in 2025.
“Significant progress has been made through extensive stakeholder consultation and ongoing collaboration with the African Union Commission, with the objective of formulating a comprehensive and forward-looking set of policy interventions across the key pillars of quality infrastructure, which include standardization, metrology, conformity assessment, accreditation, technical regulations, and quality awareness,” Minister of Industry and Commerce Honourable Mangaliso Ndlovu said.
Work is also underway to establish a National Accreditation Board to work with SADC structures and secure ISO 9001:2015 certification for the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
The goal is to build a bridge of credibility between Zimbabwean factories and the rest of the world, ensuring the mark: ‘Made in Zimbabwe,’ carries the weight it deserves on the global stage.
