Deserving investors to get citizenship
DESERVING investors will be granted citizenship as part of Government efforts to increase investment, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa has said.
The Second Republic under President Mnangagwa has been on an investment drive which has seen several investments worth billions of United States dollars flowing in.
When he came to power in November 2017, President Mnangagwa charmed the world with his “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” mantra, a promise that he has kept religiously in the country’s quest to become an upper-middle-income economy by 2030.
President Mnangagwa’s administration has embarked on major infrastructure projects such as dams, roads and border posts among others that are expected to go a long way in improving the ease of doing business and aiding economic development and growth.
In a presentation during the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade’s senior management and ambassadors’ retreat in Bulawayo, Minister Mutsvangwa said investment will be a pathway to citizenship.
Her presentation was titled, “The Case for Branding Zimbabwe.”
The weeklong retreat, which started on Monday, is being held under the theme: “Retooling Zimbabwe`s Diplomacy for Accelerated Transformation through Re-Affirmation, Engagement and Re-Engagement.”
The minister said many investors around the world are ready to flock to Zimbabwe and the Second Republic will provide an extra incentive to invest.
“Our President, His Excellency Cde Dr ED Mnangagwa, is once again going to make history by making Zimbabwe one of the first African countries to offer a pathway to citizenship through investment in Zimbabwe. Many citizens of the globe, and more importantly, the African diaspora, who are scattered in various corners of the world, are ready to come home to Africa, starting right here in Zimbabwe,” she said.
The minister said the country will host the Pan-African Congress in Victoria Falls in the first quarter of 2023 which will offer a great opportunity to strategically brand and position Zimbabwe not only in Africa but around the globe.
She briefed the ambassadors about the various projects being undertaken by the Government saying it is important for them to appreciate the work being done back home.
“At present, Domestic and Foreign Direct Investment is breathing a new entrepreneurial ethic across the length and breadth of our country. Our bountiful mineral resources are exciting and attracting the attention of worldclass corporate boardrooms. Who could have dreamt that Tsingshan Holdings Group, ranked number 238 on the Fortune 500 conglomerates would establish a full carbon steel ecosystem in Zimbabwe? It started with ferrochrome furnaces in Selous on the Great Dyke. The next step was the Dinson coke batteries from thermal coal in Hwange and the final stage is the Manhize Carbon Steel Blast Furnaces in Mvuma,” she said.
“There is another world-class act going on with lithium as global transportation migrates from fossil fuels to new energy electric vehicles. A whopping US$700 million worth of mergers and acquisitions have been occurring covering Arcadia in Goromonzi, Sabi in Buhera, and Zulu Lithium in Bikita. All this in a mere 5 months span.