Kwekwe to the geographical centre of the country, Kwekwe is also strategically located within the Midlands metropolitan area. Kwekwe, together with Gweru, Munyati, Kadoma and Redcliff form a single customer base for local commercial enterprises. As elsewhere in Zimbabwe, a high proportion of the population depends on the informal sector, possibly more than half of the population. Many self-employed miners carry out illegal digging work just north of the city, panning for gold, one of the most lucrative sources of income. Other residents engage in less strenuous work as cobblers, carpenters, TV and radio repairmen, and vendors selling anything from onions
Kwekwe ammonia required in the manufacture of fertiliser using the world's largest electrolysis plant. This requires half the electricity available from the Kariba hydroelectric power station. The main retailers and banks in the country have branches in Kwekwe. OK and TM Supermarkets have outlets along the main street in the town. Kingdom Bank, Trust Bank, Barclays Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, CBZ Bank, Stanbic Bank, Allied Bank and Ecobank all maintain branches in city. Despite massive government intrusion, some small tourist operators maintain hunting and photographic safari licences on farms and concessions near town, where an abundance of wildlife can be seen,