Zimbabwe secured investments worth US$3,4 billion during the third quarter of the year, as the Second Republic’s policies centred on “the ease of doing business”, continue bearing fruit.
The Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) revealed this in its third quarter report tabled in Harare yesterday.
Further, investments did not take a nosedive during the August harmonised elections period as earlier anticipated, thanks to the conducive political environment instituted by President Mnangagwa’s administration.
Of the US$3,4 billion, Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) accounted for US$3,38 billion while Domestic Direct Investments (DDIs) chipped in with US$27,9 million.
Presenting the report, ZIDA’s chief executive officer Mr Tafadzwa Chinamo said Zimbabwe’s energy and mining sectors continued to attract the most investments.
During the third quarter, the energy sector attracted the highest projected investment of US$2,8 billion, while the mining sector had the highest number of new licences valued at US$411 million.
“You will see that the interest from foreigners to invest in Zimbabwe is still quite strong, they do demonstrate that in the third quarter.
“The were worries obviously that with the elections there might be a slowdown in investments but as you see from the numbers of the quarter and August we didn’t see much of a slowdown.
“Mining for us has been the key sector were investors have gone into,” he said.
Mr Chinamo also went on to reveal that during the third quarter, the major foreign investors were coming in from China, the United Arab Emirates, Zimbabwe, India, Canada, South Africa and Pakistan.
One hundred and twenty one investors from China were granted new investment licences with their investments valued at US$2,7 billion, followed by the United Arab Emirates’ five investors with investments valued at US$498 million.
Zimbabwe had 10 investors issued with licences with their investments valued at US$32,9 million, followed by India’s 17 investors coming in with US$10,9 million, Canada’s three investors (US$4 million), South Africa two investors (US$3,8 million) and two Pakistani investors (US$1,7 million), to make up the top seven countries during the third quarter.
Of the 180 new licences issued during the third quarter, Harare had 99 worth US$657, Midlands 17 worth US$36 million, Mashonaland East 16 (US$246 million), Mashonaland West 12 (US$2,3 billion), Manicaland 11 (US$41 million), Mashonaland Central 7 (US$9,8 million), Masvingo Province 5 (38,8 million), Matabeleland North 5 (US$51,5 million), Bulawayo 5 (US$6,3 million) and Matabeleland South 3 (US$9,9 million).
“The mood was that let’s wait and see these elections and then after that we see but the number of licences in the third quarter was 180, they are actually higher than the two quarters before that.
“Of those 180 when they come here and apply for licences there is a section on our form where we ask them how much their investments are going to be. Obviously at that point its an intention and might not necessarily be that but for us it’s an indication of the sizes of investments. The application process does also filter out where we think things are being exaggerated. It’s not a simple case of just filling out a form,” he said.
“At licencing, the energy sector registered the highest projected investment value at USD$2,8 billion with 6 new licences being issued during the quarter.
“The mining sector was second with a projected investment value of USD$411,97 million with 86 new licences issued. Overall, the 3rd quarter recorded 12,5 percent increase over the 2nd quarter in the number of investor licences issued by the Agency.”
Mr Chinamo said investor confidence continued to increase as ZIDA was not relenting in promoting Zimbabwe as a safe investment destination.
This, he said, was evidenced by the increasing number of inquiries and projects already underway.
“Our dedicated gems outdid themselves as the team worked tirelessly to promote our country as a worthwhile investment destination, the result being a significant rise in inquiries, investor visits, and investment projects in the pipeline as well as licenced.
“This surge in investor confidence is testament to the robustness of the country’s investment ecosystem and the efforts we have channelled towards informing the world of the bountiful investment opportunities and collective Government thrust to continually improve and simplify the business environment,” he said.
Zimbabweans, said Mr Chinamo, were heeding President Mnangagwa’s call for homegrown growth, something that was encouraging.
“It is also good to see that our own investors here in Zimbabwe have heeded the call to invest and they are identifying opportunities,” he said.
Herald
