AS Zimbabwe’s economy spirals downward — plagued by rampant unemployment, and crippling food insecurity — growing numbers of desperate citizens are fleeing across borders in search of survival.
Over two million Zimbabweans have already abandoned their homeland, escaping an economic collapse that has crushed the dreams of an entire generation.
Thousands more scramble to secure passports, despite the exorbitant fees, joining this relentless exodus. The figures paint a devastating portrait of stagnation. A 2024 World Bank report reveals 67% of Zimbabwe’s youth subsist below the poverty line. That same year, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) reported youth unemployment soaring beyond 85% — a statistic that underscores the depth of the crisis. Coupled with that, 72% of stranded young people are eking out a living through informal activities, according to the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe.
Public health institutions, which at Independence were a source of refuge, are in a state of collapse. As Zimbabweans continue to sink deeper into poverty, the majority of the country’s average households are stalked by hunger. Once celebrated as the Jewel of Africa, Zimbabwe has now morphed into the proverbial House of Hunger, crippled by social vices such as rampant drug abuse, crime, and moral decay.
It is this stark reality, underpinned by limited opportunities, that has sparked the exodus of Zimbabweans to foreign lands where they hope to live decent lives. Ironically, while the economy continues to burn, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and senior officials of his administration continue to trumpet their “success” in reversing the economic tide that has left citizens marooned. But the reality on the ground tells a different story.
Zimbabwe’s advanced economic decay is palpable. Once a beacon of stability and prosperity in the region, the country has become the sick man of the Southern African Development Community. In 1980, Zambians, Malawians, and Mozambicans were emigrating to Zimbabwe. Now the tide has turned. The latest survey by Afrobarometer, a pan-African, non-partisan survey research network providing data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life, shows that 58% of interviewed Zimbabweans are desperate to escape the economic malaise gripping the country.
“The most frequently cited reasons among those who have considered emigration are economic: 58% would leave for better work opportunities, and 32% to escape economic hardship or poverty. Only tiny proportions have other motivations,” Afrobarometer said.
“When it comes to leaving their country, nearly six in 10 Zimbabweans (58%) say they have contemplated the possibility, including 34% who have considered it ‘a lot’.”
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Such shocking revelations should jolt Mnangagwa’s administration to mend the fragile economy. Grotesquely disguising, Zimbabwe’s economic crisis is akin to living in cloud cuckoo land. Now is the time to save the dying economy!
