Digitalisation drive critical to investment promotion-ZIDA

THE Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) has said its digitalisation drive is key to investment promotion and development as it enhances the ease of doing business in the country.

As a pivotal shift towards modernisation and efficiency, ZIDA’s digitalisation drive is positioning Zimbabwe as a competitive player on the global investment landscape.

Speaking on Harnessing and Optimising Technology for Business Growth and Success at the Strategy Execution Advisory Talks (SEAT) Africa Summit 2025 in Victoria Falls on Wednesday, ZIDA chief facilitator, Ms Felisters Chikandiwa, said their digitalisation drive was in line with the aspirations of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).

The world has evolved and is now one global village.

“Technology is making it possible, and this has influenced the development of Zimbabwe’s digital transformation agenda that anchors Zida’s digitalisation drive,” she said

“The NDS1 identifies the digital economy as part of national priorities set to transform the country into an upper-middle-income economy by 2030. Various efforts are being made for smart Government, smart education, smart trade and commerce as well as smart mining, among others.”

She said as an investment promotion agency, they were leveraging technology for promotion-tech, with their website being the repository of all the information on investing in Zimbabwe.

Ms Chikandiwa said it is the key contact point for all foreign investors, while there was a 15 percent increase in web traffic from the fourth quarter of 2024 to 8 696 in the first quarter of 2025.

She added: “We also use social media for information dissemination, engagement of key stakeholders and we have witnessed growth in followers on a monthly basis. On LinkedIn, the dominant platform, there was a rise from 256 engagements in January to 886 in March 2025.”

Ms Chikandiwa said their matchmaking platforms for mining and tourism were connecting individuals and corporates with assets to potential investors.

She said the ZIDA Mining Claims Matchmaking Platform was developed to connect mining claim holders in Zimbabwe with local and international investors

While it also facilitates partnerships for technical assistance, tributary partnership, joint venture partnership, debt funding, or finding a buyer for mining claims.

Ms Chikandiwa said: “The Tourism Investment Matchmaking Platform is a developed platform that facilitates connections between operators in the tourism sector and local or international investors. “Operators can connect with potential investors, acquire licenses, and specify the type of assistance they need, such as technical support, tributary partnership, joint venture partnership, debt funding, or finding a buyer for their operating license.”

She said the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, and internet of things (IoT) was critical to providing experiential tours of Zimbabwe and they were utilising this at expos.

Ms Chikandiwa said for facilitation-tech, they had digitalised the pre-licensing One Stop Investment Services Centre (OSISC), licensing (general investment and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) investor), establishment of OSISC, aftercare as well as monitoring and evaluation.

She said: “The Zida Do It Yourself (DIY) Portal also shortens the licensing (investment) processing as it offers convenient, comprehensive information and efficiency. Licence application and approval process is now 100 percent digitised. Digital licences are now being provided.”

Ms Chikandiwa said the digital investment facilitation platform currently in progress was going to be a single window platform, while it would be piloted in seven institutions, but the vision was to integrate all Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

She said the seven institutions for the e-regulations and e-registration pilot exercise were ZIDA, the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, the National Social Security Authority (NSSA), Deeds, Companies and Intellectual Property Office, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra), the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and the Department of Immigration Zimbabwe.

“This Project is under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development being implemented through the United Centre for Trade and Development (UNCTAD).”

On protection-tech, Ms Chikandiwa said last year, they launched the investor grievance response mechanism (IGRM) at ZIDA to avoid divestment and prevent disputes between investors and the State (including MDAs).

She said they were also rolling out admin-tech and human resources (HR)-tech.

Ms Chikandiwa added: “The future envisions smart cities with integrated systems. E-government services will improve transparency and AI-aided industrial systems. Innovation hubs will also support startups, while key areas like AI, IoT and blockchain technology will drive economic growth, creating a digital Zimbabwe.”

She said aiding information management, efficient administration and industrial systems were key in fintech, health-tech, e-commerce, agri-tech, edu-tech, mining-tech and renewable energy-tech.-herald

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