Minister Mathema advocates Mat North investment
MATABELELAND North province has various investment opportunities including mining, tourism and water infrastructure, which investors can exploit in a win-win situation, a senior Government official has said.
Minister of State for Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs, Ambassador Cain Mathema, said this on Wednesday night during the East and Central African Social Security Association ( ECASSA) welcome dinner in the resort town of Victoria Falls.
He said in keeping with the country’s mantra, ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’, it was incumbent upon all ECASSA members attending the conference to go back to their countries and market investment opportunities available in Matabeleland North.
“I have a special request, when you go back to your respective countries, please spread the message that ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’.
“And, therefore, indeed, my own province too is open for business in tourism, mining, water infrastructure, conferencing centres, housing, shopping malls, truck inns, agriculture, and we would like to see an internationally high class wedding centre built here, as well as a state-of-the-art medical centre, all surrounded by gold and diamond ring shops that compete well with similar shops anywhere in the world.”
Since the coming in of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration last November, Zimbabwe has been aggressively seeking foreign direct investment. Since then over $11 billion worth of firm investment commitments have been received. There are high hopes that once the country delivers free, fair and credible elections that President Mnangagwa has promised, more investors will come while some of the proposed investments would be consummated.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Mathema said Matabeleland North was excited to host the ECASSA Council and Standing meetings, particularly given that Zimbabwe was admitted into the bloc early this year. ECASSA is an organisation formed in 2007 by social security institutions in East and Central African countries with the main desire of working together to improve the quality and effectiveness of social security administration.
Zimbabwe was admitted as the eight member of ECASSA at the beginning of the year.
It is ECASSA’s tradition that the newest member hosts the next Governing Council and Standing Committee meetings at which the newest member is bestowed with its membership credentials and is formally assimilated into the association.
Member institutions in ECASSA include pensions or provident funds, workers compensation funds, social security authorities such as the National Social Security Authority (NSSA), and health insurance schemes.