An Analysis of the Impact of Zimbabwe’s Trade Promotion Agencies on Bilateral Trade Flow

Trade promotion agencies, particularly trade promotion officers (TPOs), play a key role in developing countries due to these nations’ unique economic challenges. They catalyse economic development by empowering businesses to participate in the international economy and facilitate and expand international trade. Their roles are key for individual businesses, corporate firms, and the overall economic health of a country. TPOs bridge the gap between domestic businesses and international markets and foster trade and investment. Zimbabwe has faced economic challenges and a widening trade deficit. This paper analyses the impact of TPOs on bilateral trade between Zimbabwe and 34 trading partners from 1985 to 2022. The paper uses the gravity model to analyse the impact of TPOs, gross domestic product, distance, real exchange rate, common language, landlocked, contiguity, and regional trading agreement on bilateral trade. Regression results from the Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) technique show that TPOs increase Zimbabwe’s bilateral exports, imports, and total trade by 2.83, 2.93, and 2.83 times higher, respectively, than when trading with countries without Zimbabwean TPOs, demonstrating a significant positive impact on trade volumes. The results support that TPOs positively influence trade in countries where these TPOs are stationed. In essence, the work by Zimbabwe’s TPOs is essential for promoting trade and enhancing the country’s export competitiveness in the international market and economic growth.