Indeed, Zimbabwe is open for business

ZIMBABWE, under the new political dispensation, has found itself back into the fold of economic revival and is fighting to catch up with the rest of the world. President Emmerson Mnangagwa is working hard to undo the wrongs of the past, particularly in the areas of economic and political reforms.

President Mnangagwa’s first 100 days in office witnessed tremendous progress in the areas of economic and political reforms. In as much it is virtually impossible to achieve everything in 100 days, it is refreshing to note that the President and his Government have achieved a lot in the last three months.

For avoidance of doubt, from the economic front, the following milestones have been achieved:

Economic reforms

Government has made tremendous progress in undertaking key reforms which has seen proposals to review the lndigenisation and Empowerment Act and rationalisation of the civil service.

International engagement

For the first time, the President led a powerful delegation to Davos where he engaged various stakeholders and international investors and preached that Zimbabwe is open for business. These efforts have undoubtedly helped in improving the country’s image and reduced the country’s risk premium. As a result, we have witnessed a number of delegations coming to Zimbabwe with a number of deals being signed.

Liquidity mobilisation

In as much as there seem to be not much improvement on availability of cash for the men and women in the street, there has been significant progress made towards stabilising the liquidity situation in the country. Late last year, Government successfully finalised a $1, 5 billion facility with Africa Export and Import Bank whose purpose is inter alia aimed at supporting the nostro accounts and credit guarantee for production and export enhancement programmes in mining and manufacturing.

Political front

The President has established a culture of political tolerance and since his inauguration; he reaffirmed his desire for credible, free and fair elections. His interactions with opposition parties, particularly the Movement for Democratic Change, is testimony to that. In one of my instalments, I called on the President to convene a meeting with political parties with a view of getting the concerns and views on what needs to be done to have free and fair elections guaranteed. It is heartening to note that His Excellency, President Mnangagwa, is meeting all political parties to address that.

Government must now attend to the concerns of all stakeholders and walk the talk as we move towards the harmonized elections. The recommendations which are expected to come out of the meeting between the President and other political parties must be implemented in the watchful eyes of everyone, that is, local, regional and international observers as promised by the President.

A credible, free and fair election that is accepted internationally will open a window of opportunities for the country. At this stage, all the eyes are focusing on Zimbabwe and it is in our best interest that we get our code on elections right.

Corruption We must continue to work hard in addressing corruption. There has been significant emphasis on the need to deal with corruption. Going forward, we need more action.

Further, we need to expedite the doing business reforms.

Our procedures, rules and regulations are serious harm string to business and this needs to be attended to as a matter of urgency.

Asante Sana.