adminsaid the realisation for increased infrastructure spending is part of broader continental initiatives to attract FDI that was noted during the recent 5th Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance and Economic Commission for Africa Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
“It was noted during the conference that weak physical infrastructure is a major obstacle to investment, broad-based growth and poverty reduction in Africa.
“Consistent under-investment and lack of attention accorded to the sector require countries such as Zimbabwe to put effort in attracting investment in the infrastructure sector given the limited capacity of their national budgets to meet the huge capital requirements for the infrastructure sector,” he said.
Infrastructure investment in Zimbabwe renders a Catch-22 situation in which the country is failing to attract adequate FDI partly due to the poor state of economic infrastructure, while FDI is critically needed to infrastructure refurbishment and new projects.
An analysis of Zimbabwe’s FDI flows over the years shows a sharp decline as compared to its regional peers.
For example, FDI declined from a high of US$444 million in 1998 to US$60 million in 2009, while other countries in the region like Zambia, Mozambique and Namibia have been receiving significant inflows.
Last year, the World Economic Report 2011 showed that Zimbabwe’s recorded FDI of US$105 million, compared to Angola’s US$9 billion for the same period.
Online Reporter
- Herald
- May 30, 2026
- 16 views
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