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Michael Tome Business Writer
Zimbabwe continues to be an easier place to do business after cutting the time needed to register new businesses from 20 to seven, the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (ZIDA) has said.
The streamlining of time required to register a business, under the One Stop Investment Services Centre (OSISC), is part of ongoing efforts to make it more flexible for those willing to start enterprises in the country, ZIDA chief executive Mr Never Nyemudzo said while addressing media stakeholders in Harare Wednesday.
One of the priorities of the Second Republic is to improve the ease of doing business, or rather, create a more favourable operating business environment, including obtaining permits and licenses, dealing with taxes, protecting investors, and other regulatory aspects. It is an important indicator of a country’s business environment and critical to make the country attractive to investors. The Government has continuously been on a drive to improve the ease of doing business to stimulate economic growth and attract more investment into the country.
Mr Nyemudzo said ZIDA had amalgamated services of over 18 Government departments to ensure timeous consultations and approval of business licenses.
“Looking back; our lead times from point of application to approval used to be 21 days plus, but it is now seven days,” said Mr Nyemudzo.”When you come and make contact with ZIDA, it means you have gotten in contact with the whole Government machinery.”
Mr Nyemudzo said the agency was looking at launching a self-service investor portal in the second half of the year. “Phase two, which we are anticipating to launch next month is called ‘do it yourself’. An investor will just need to go online, fill in the application form, attachments and send the papers to ZIDA. We anticipate our lead time to further improve from seven days to about three to four days.
“This is a very good development under the ease of doing business, all things being equal you would have got your ZIDA license in four days,” he added. He said plans were in place to sign a Memoranda of Understanding with different government ministries to ensure continuous improvement in the handling of investment issues. ZIDA has already started talks with departments like the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) to second its services through OSISC, including allowing the issuance of preliminary permits.
Simplifying tax processes, reducing tax burdens, having clear guidelines, and encouraging compliance to reduce administrative burdens for businesses were some of the goals ZIDA intends to achieve, he said.
Organizations such as the World Bank’s Doing Business report assess and compare the ease of doing business across countries, providing valuable insights for policymakers to identify areas for reform and improvement.
Mr Nyemudzo said a streamlined and efficient process for business registration and obtaining licenses was crucial in simplifying procedures and reducing bureaucracy.
He said the agency would move away from the manual system where applications were physically submitted to the agency.
“If an investor sends an email, it gets logged into the system and somebody attends to that, the licensing module is now online, where everything is automated from application submission and processing,” he added.
This year, the country is targeting investments worth US$4 billion, with US$2 billion expected from reinvestments, US$1,5 billion from foreign direct investments, and US$500 million from domestic direct investments.
During the first half of the year, over US$1,7 billion has been invested in the country.
In 2022, the actual investments were US$2,3 billion.
Online Reporter