Milestone investment law imminent

AFTER instituting reforms that saw the country move 15 places up global rankings that measure the ease of doing business this year, Government is on the cusp of another major milestone as the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (ZIDA) Bill now awaits Presidential assent, it has been learnt.

The envisaged agency is expected to eliminate red tape by integrating all departments and agencies responsible for processing investment applications under one roof.

The Bill was passed in Senate on Wednesday. However, Government, through the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, decided to drop proposals made by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce, and that of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to give ZIDA’s board of directors executive powers.

If signed into law in its current form, the agency’s chief executive officer will now be appointed by and report to the President.

Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade Mr Kindness Paradza — under whose purview the Bill falls — said they had decided to accede to changes proposed by Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi since “the Bill originated from the Executive”.

“Senate passed it . . . and it now awaits Presidential assent. From there, it will be enacted into law,” said Mr Paradza.

“We discussed with the Minister (Ziyambi Ziyambi) and we decided to drop the amendments we had suggested in our report. The Bill originated from the Executive, it is their Bill so they can do that,” he said.

During the Bill’s final reading in Senate last week, there were concerns that giving more executive powers to the CEO than the board was ill-advised.

But Minister Ziyambi told The Sunday Mail that the amendments made to the Bill were well thought out and in line with best practice.

“There were three major issues. . . They wanted a stand-alone board and we said no, because based on lessons we have learnt in Rwanda and elsewhere that the agency works well if it is under the President’s Office. The CEO will be accountable to the President and Parliament,” he said.

“They had also suggested that it be declared that licences will be processed in three days, we refused and stuck to 30 days, and again this is based on lessons we have learnt.

“We cannot declare it law right from the onset when the agency is still in its infancy.”

While the Bill makes provision for provincial offices for the agency, this will only be done progressively.

Minister Ziyambi said: “They also wanted provincial offices of ZIDA to be a must from the onset, and we said no, where resources are involved there are cost effects. For now, the OPC (Office of the President and Cabinet) is sufficient.”

ZIDA — which is expected to be an institutional superstructure that efficiently and effectively processes investment — is modelled along the same lines as the Rwanda Development Board (RDB).

Simplified investment processes have made Rwanda the second easiest place to do business in Africa, according to the World Bank.

Government believes an efficient institutional framework that interfaces with investors is likely to attract the much-needed foreign direct investment into the country.

The new administration’s charm, which is being pursued through the “Open for Business” initiative, was recently rewarded when Zimbabwe’s rankings on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2020 improved by 15 places from 155 to 140 out of the 190 countries.

It represents the biggest ever improvement by Zimbabwe since the rankings were launched in 2003.