Zida’s investments move pays dividends
Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency’s (Zida) effort to strategically prioritise energy and mining investments drew billions of dollars in new investments last year. The strategy was to give the agency focus on its approach.
Zida is the Government’s investment promotion agency, responsible for facilitating domestic and foreign investment in the country and it provides incentives to investors and does everything to make Zimbabwe a secure investment destination. Government has constantly rallied global investors to take up opportunities in mining and the energy sector.
The country’s power deficit is expected to balloon by an additional 2 300MW by 2025 due to increasing demand from mining and smelting companies. In terms of green energy, there is huge potential for solar, wind and hydropower production.
In Zida’s 2023 annual report, Chief Executive Officer, Mr Tafadzwa Chinamo said in the period under review, the agency witnessed strong organisational performance with record-breaking achievements in the facilitation, advocacy, promotional, developmental and operational support aspects of the Agency.
He said the success underscores the importance of dedication and innovation in a constantly changing environment. In the period under review, 615 new licences were issued with a total projected investment value of US$9,669 billion while 415 licences were renewed with an actual investment value of US$1,2 billion.
The mining sector had the highest number of licences at 277.
“Prioritisation and promotion of key focal sectors was a deliberate strategy which gave the agency focus, and was most visible in two (2) of the chosen sectors – energy and mining.
“The highest projected investment value came through the energy sector, with a total licensed value of US$3,524 billion, and the highest number of new licences were issued to investors in mining which had 277 licences approved by year-end,” said the agency.
The agency noted that campaigns and initiatives to attract domestic investors and drive domestic direct investment (DDI) were part of its strategy to increase the number of local companies holding investor licences.
Three events were held with licensed foreign investors invited to interact with local companies, the main focus being on highlighting the services on offer to all licensed investors and to showcase the equitable application of the Zida Act to local and international investors.
It said the uptake from the local investors was low — but as at the end of December 2023, there was a recorded total of US$0,393billion licensed under Zimbabwe investors.
“The target for the agency for DDI was set at US$0,5 billion – with the Agency achieving 80 percent of this target.”
On new Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), by December 2023, a total projected investment value of US$9,669 billion had been registered with the highest number of investors coming from the People’s Republic of China, South Africa, Zimbabwe, India and the United Kingdom.
China had 369 investors with an investment value of US$3,9 billion, South Africa was second with US$1,7 billion investment value from 56 investors, Zimbabwe (US$393,10 million from 34 investors).
India had US$52,28 million from 18 investors and United Kingdom had US$26,74 million investment value from 15 investors. The agency surpassed its goal of attracting a projected FDI value of US$1,5 billion by almost 650 percent.
It noted that improved facilitation of investor services through the Agency’s One Stop Investment Service Centre (OSISC), mapping and streamlining of its operational processes, resulted in a total of 615 new licences issued, a 130 percent increase from 2022.
“The sector with the highest number of licences was mining which had a final tally of 277 licences followed by manufacturing sector with 138 licences.
“Key to the success of facilitation was and remains the Agency’s due diligence process, that assists in thorough investigation and assessment of investors backgrounds and conduct before allowing them to make an investment in the country, intensified monitoring and evaluation processes measured re-investment by licensed investors in the country, through the renewal of 415 licences, with an actual recorded investment value of US$1,200 billion,” the agency said in the report.
The agency’s target for 2023 for reinvestment from its licensed investors was set at US$2,00 billion.
Although the final recorded reinvestment value was slightly lower than the targeted value — by approximately 40 percent, it was accepted that there may have been hesitation to reinvest during the election window period, it said.
Meanwhile, Bulawayo province attracted projected investments of US$77,28 million in 2023 while Mashonaland West Province had the highest value of projected investment at US$2,383 billion.
The investment agency said it generated provincial-specific data that allowed stakeholders to view the levels and areas of interest of investors in each province, in a bid to buttress the central role of provinces in driving the development agenda.
“The data highlighted the continued attraction and dominance of Harare Province with a total number of 312 investors, while Mashonaland West Province had the highest value of projected investment at US$2,383 billion,” reads part of the report.
According to Zida, Masvingo had a projected investment value of US$1,8 billion, Manicaland (US$1,5 billion), Matabeleland North (US$701,6 million), Mashonaland East US ($515 million), Midlands (US$402 million), Mashonaland Central (US$230 million) and Matabeleland South had US$15,51 million projected investment.-chroncile
