Online Reporter
Tapiwanashe Mangwiro
Senior Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE should urgently strengthen the preparation and packaging of investment projects to unlock large pools of domestic and international capital seeking productive opportunities, the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) has said.
ZIDA chief executive officer Tafadzwa Chinamo said the country could not rely solely on investor interest to drive economic development, arguing that projects must be properly prepared, transparent and commercially structured before inviting financiers to commit capital.
Addressing the 6th ZimReal Property Investment Forum, Mr Chinamo said Zimbabwe has an opportunity to mobilise private capital into infrastructure, industry, property and other productive sectors, but this required a pipeline of credible and bankable projects.
“Zimbabwe needs to develop a stronger pipeline of investment-ready and bankable projects,” he said.
This highlights a key challenge confronting investment mobilisation in Zimbabwe: the gap between promising ideas and projects developed to secure financing.
Mr Chinamo said project sponsors often face financial constraints at the earliest stages of development, when they need resources for feasibility studies, environmental assessments, technical investigations, financial modelling and legal structuring.
“At the concept stage, many projects lack resources for further preparation. At the feasibility stage, sponsors face the cost of technical studies, environmental assessments, financial modelling and legal structure,” he said.
The preparation gap can prevent potentially viable projects from getting financiers, particularly where sponsors lack the resources required to demonstrate commercial viability.
He said the problem does not end once a project reaches financial close, as projects also require financing structures that match their construction and operating cycles.
“At financial close, these perceptions in inappropriate financing structures can delay or prevent capital commitment. During implementation, projects require suitable financing that matches their construction and operating cycle,” he said.
