Final Report: USAID Strategic Economic Research and Analysis – Zimbabwe (SERA) Program

as the prime implementing partner. The four-year SERA program has three Strategic Objectives, which may be summarized as follows: Improved economic environment for inclusive growth through evidence-based policy analysis and research; Strengthened capacity of key institutions to analyze and develop economic policy; and Enhanced economic policy dialogue and coordination among key stakeholders. The SERA program is focused on providing technical assistance to the Zimbabwe Economic Policy Analysis and Research Unit (ZEPARU) and the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT). Assistance to ZEPARU includes the launch of the ZEPARU Economic Scholars bursary program, which provides full bursary support for 8 economists to pursue a part-time M.Sc. degree in Economics at the University of Zimbabwe. SERA also sponsored 5 Zimbabwean economists to participate in a week-long course on Introduction to Economy-Wide Modelling for Policy Analysis, and supported Dr. Gibson Chigumira, Executive Director of ZEPARU, to participate in a high-profile Zimbabwe Investment and Trade Conference. In addition, SERA agreed to support ZEPARU and the Ministry of Finance in planning and implementing a Zimbabwe Economic Summit, scheduled for late August. Much of the work with ZEPARU in Quarter 2 involved planning for activities that will be implemented in Program Quarters 3 and 4. Assistance to ZIMSTAT includes funding the data processing stage of ZIMSTAT's Poverty, Income and Consumption Expenditure Survey (PICES), completing negotiations to fund an upgrade of the Central Business Register (CBR), and conducting negotiations on funding the procurement of hardware and software to modernize ZIMSTAT's overall database management and data warehousing systems. The SERA program has made significant progress in Quarter 2, with several key activities completed or initiated. These include the launch of the ZEPARU Economic Scholars bursary program, the sponsorship of 5 Zimbabwean economists to participate in a week-long course on Introduction to Economy-Wide Modelling for Policy Analysis, and the completion of negotiations with ZIMSTAT to fund an upgrade of the Central Business Register (CBR). The program has also made significant progress in planning for activities that will be implemented in Program Quarters 3 and 4, including the planning and implementation of a Zimbabwe Economic Summit. The SERA program has several key performance indicators, including the completion of start-up activities, the provision of technical assistance to ZEPARU and ZIMSTAT, and the implementation of the work plan. The program has also established a number of cross-cutting issues, including coordination with USAID, poverty reduction, and gender equality. The program's performance monitoring indicators include output indicators, intermediate result indicators, outcome indicators, and context indicators. The SERA program has a number of challenges, including the need to strengthen the capacity of key institutions to analyze and develop economic policy, and the need to enhance economic policy dialogue and coordination among key stakeholders. The program's plans for the next quarter include continued assistance to ZEPARU and ZIMSTAT, as well as the implementation of the work plan and the completion of start-up activities. The program's performance monitoring indicators will continue to be used to track progress and identify areas for improvement.