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Kudakwashe Pembere Business Reporter
THE transformation of the financial services sector is key to attracting investment in the country, a Government official has said.
Finance and Economic Planning Minister Patrick Chinamasa said reforming the financial services sector was critical in building confidence, which is necessary to attract investment. He was speaking during the inaugural Zimbabwe Investment Authority awards ceremony that were held in Harare on Tuesday evening.
“We need to put right our financial services sector. We need to restore the role of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe as a banker to Government and as lender of last resort. We need to capacitate the RBZ to supervise the financial services sector adequately as well as establishing interbank lending. All that will cost money but if we demonstrate confidence I am sure that the money will come. For instance, the capitalisation of RBZ requires a cool US$200 million while re-establishing interbank lending will need US$400 million.
“It is very important that we restructure the financial services sector. It is key for the investment we are talking about,” he said.
The Finance Minister said it was important for people who were borrowing from the sector to repay their loans.
“The banking sector is the lifeblood of the economy. If we kill it then the economy suffers. We need to learn to repay loans,” he said.
Minister Chinamasa said foreign direct investment was critical in funding the Zimbabwe Agenda on Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation blueprint. Government, he said, was also looking at other ways of raising the funds needed for the blueprint.
“I am considering the securitisation of our minerals because we noticed that there are foreign business people who come and buy claims.
They carry out geological surveys with the intention to sell those claims on the stock exchanges overseas. It is my hope that we get such claims so that we leverage our resources. There are several banks that have already indicated that they are willing to give us the money to carry out the geological surveys, so the ball is in our court,” he said.
Minister Chinamasa said Government was also looking at mobilising funds from Zimbabweans living abroad.
“I am also looking at the Diaspora and see what value we can reap from our population that is outside. One of the considerations we have is that we float Diaspora bonds,” he said.
Meanwhile, 20 organisations and individuals walked away with awards for their investment contribution in the country.
Delta Corporation walked away with two awards while Hwange Colliery Company Limited won three awards. BAT Zimbabwe was the best in manufacturing while Masimba Holdings bagged the construction and construction services award with CBZ Holdings tops in the banking sector.
Other winners were Lake Harvest (Pvt) Ltd and Chengeta Safari Lodge. In the lifetime category, other winners included Turnall Holdings Limited, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Tanganda Tea Company Limited, Meikles Africa Limited and Econet Wireless.
Companies which had notable corporate social responsibility projects were Econet, Zimplats and Tanganda while the green business award went to Nyaradzo Holdings.
ZIA recognition awards went to Savanna Tobacco (Pvt) Ltd, Hualong Construction (Pvt) Ltd, African Century Leasing Limited, Makomo Resources (Pvt) Ltd, Xiangbo (Pvt) Ltd, Lonrho Logistics (Rollex) and Chengeta Safari Lodge. The source country award and special recognition certificate went to the Chinese Embassy.
Online Reporter