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Zimbabwe is in urgent need of Foreign Direct Investment to boost its economy and since last year government has been working on a number of programmes aimed at addressing the many shortcomings that are working against efforts to attract investors.
Late last year Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched The Zimbabwe National Competitiveness Report which listed a number of issues which are impeding government’s efforts to attract foreign investors.
In response to the report’s findings, government pledged to come up with a cocktail of measures to attract FDI and this included among others, amending the Companies Act.
The government realised that some investors were being frustrated by long and protracted procedures in their quest to invest in the country hence the mechanisms being put in place to reduce the waiting period. The government, the private sector and labour are all agreed that a lot needs to be done to ensure the country has investor friendly policies.
It is a fact that a lot of ground has since been covered by both government and the private sector in trying to make Zimbabwe an investment destination of choice. The next move is to identify the potential investors and where feasible to approach the investors with attractive investment packages.
We therefore want to commend government for its decision to engage Zimbabweans in the Diaspora who should take the lead in investing back home. According to the Macro-Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister, Obert Mpofu, Diaspora Engagement Conferences have been lined up in South Africa, Australia and the United Kingdom. He said the conferences were meant to engage the three million Zimbabweans in these countries in order to encourage them to invest back home.
Minister Mpofu said the engagement conferences were scheduled to start next month. Zimbabweans in the Diaspora are contributing an average of $1,5 billion annually in remittances. Minister Mpofu said government realised that its citizens in the Diaspora could play a critical role in attracting FDI. He said the Diasporans could invest back home as individuals or could partner foreign investors interested in investing in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabweans including those in the Diaspora have an obligation to contribute to the country’s prosperity. Many of those that have been forced to seek greener pastures in other countries would want to enjoy their last days back home when they retire while others might return to contribute to the rebuilding of the economy.
We want at this juncture to implore Zimbabweans in the Disapora to take seriously these engagement conferences so that they can contribute to the development of their country.
Online Reporter
derick.khumalo