AEDS hosted the inaugural state of the economy dialogues focusing on the 2025 economic review and 2026 economic outlook on 22 January 2026 and 29 January 2026 at Rainbow Towers (Harare) and Churchill Hotel (Bulawayo), respectively. At these dialogues, AEDS launched its first edition of the Zimbabwe Economic Pulse (ZEP), a flagship report of the Africa Economic Development Strategies that provides hard facts, granular information, and forecasts on the country’s economic prospects, grounded in rigorous economic inquiry and analysis. The ZEP seeks to address a fundamental lacuna – the absence of independent, evidence-based perspectives on the state of the economy and its prospects – by anchoring its analysis in economic modelling, deep analysis of existing data, and the generation of robust insights. The report was disseminated at the dialogue, offering an analysis of global and domestic economic 22 January 2026 Rainbow Towers, Harare 29 January 2026, Churchill Hotel, Bulawayo developments. With respect to global economic developments and outlook, the report provides a comprehensive analysis of growth and inflation trends in advanced economies, emerging markets and Sub- Saharan Africa within the context of geopolitical developments and key economic determinants such as climate-induced risks, inflation, and demand and supply dynamics, as well as their implications for Zimbabwe. Additionally, developments on international commodities and their impact on the Zimbabwean economy were provided. With respect to the Zimbabwean economic affairs, the ZEP delved deep into the real sector, fiscal developments, monetary and exchange rate developments, financial markets developments, external sector and public debt. Most critically, as part of the analysis of domestic economic developments, this dialogue presentation reviewed the performance of socio-economic development indicators which, inter alia, include: poverty levels, stunting growth rates, unemployment, health, education, quality of life and population metrics.