President assures investors at Africa CEO forum
meaningfully contribute to our national aspirations and development agenda.
“Furthermore, we are committed to participatory governance, accountability and transparency in the economic sphere as well as in all socio-political activities.”
President Mnangagwa, who is leading a delegation of chief executives and business leaders, said the private sector was key to the development of any nation.
“My administration recognises the significant role that Foreign Direct Investment and private investment will play in the economic re-birth of Zimbabwe,” he said.
“As such, we continue to institute sound market principles to improve the investment climate and ease of doing business to make our country an attractive investment destination. Zimbabwe is alive to the fact that capital goes where it feels safe.
“We continue to put in place all necessary measures that will entrench our democracy and lower the risk of doing business in our country. We guarantee the safety of all investments and the respect of property rights, Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPAs) and the right of investors to repatriate profits within the confines of our laws.”
President Mnangagwa said astute and forward looking policies as implemented by other African countries, would see Zimbabwe achieving economic transformation.
“We stand ready to share knowledge and experiences, new technologies and innovations, as well as other aspects of global best practice,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe was streamlining and simplifying import and export regulations in the spirit of Sadc, COMESA and the new African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA).
The mining sector, he said, remained “enormous” and the Indigenisation Act had been amended to limit the 51:49 percent ratio to only diamond and platinum sectors.
“With us, the question is not which minerals we have, but it’s simpler to ask which minerals we do not have,” said President Mnangagwa. “The percentage shareholding ratio of foreign investment into any other sectors may now be independently negotiated by the respective parties.
“The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development now has a dedicated Mining Investment Desk for your convenience and ease of doing business.”
President Mnangagwa said apart from mining, there were also opportunities in agriculture, livestock, fisheries, wildlife and forestry where investors could pursue value addition and beneficiation projects.
President Mnangagwa said Special Economic Zones, which are commodity based and geographical, presented fiscal and monetary incentives formulated to attract investment.
“My Government will strive to eliminate all investment impediments, bureaucratic bottlenecks, public sector lethargy, deliberate inefficiencies and corruption as they