UAE conglomerate mulls billion-dollar Zim investments

One World Group, a corporate behemoth headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates will set up shop in Zimbabwe, with investments in the country’s tourism, infrastructure, mining and agriculture sectors among others.

This follows the company representatives’ meeting with President Mnangagwa a fortnight ago on the sidelines of the 28th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) where the President emphasised that Zimbabwe was truly open for business.

A delegation from the company made a follow up meeting with President Mnangagwa in Harare yesterday to further discuss the proposed investment.

Wherever he goes, President Mnangagwa has been selling Zimbabwe as an investment destination of choice and all his efforts have been bearing fruit as multi-billion dollar investments continue to be lined up for the country.

Investor confidence has also increased exponentially because of the Second Republic’s sound economic policies.

The group is interested in mining, tourism, fintech and agriculture and software development, among other areas.

Their investments will see five hotels being built in the country among them a 7-star hotel and once complete, these will significantly boost Zimbabwe’s tourism infrastructure as the country continues to be promoted as an investment and tourism destination of choice.

Among the entourage was One World Group’s chairman Mr Rabelin Tchoumi, LG Corporation’s chief executive Mr Kwan Yoo and One World’s head of strategy Mr Warren Thompson.

In an interview after a closed-door meeting with President Mnangagwa, Mr Tchoumi said they had been charmed by the vast investment opportunities presented to them by the President hence their decision to jet into the country.

He said the Abu Dhabi based company had expressed to President Mnangagwa their commitment to aiding Zimbabwe’s economic development.

“We held a very interesting meeting with your President, His Excellency shared with us his perspective on how Zimbabwe is open, the opportunities here for investment.

“We were very pleased to see the commitment of Zimbabwe to attract more capital.

“We have given our commitment to the President that we are going to be part of this economy,” he said.

Mr Tchoumi said the entourage has already identified vast investment areas they are interested in.

One World Group, he said, is committed to making Zimbabwe a tourism “magnet” on the international scene.

“We are looking forward to forge strong relations between our group and Zimbabwe. In the context of Zimbabwe we see huge opportunities with food security, tourism, huge potential in hospitality here, your country is endowed with so much beauty.

“The President was telling us earlier about the elephant population and the beauty of the Victoria Falls and other landscapes that can be harnessed and create an ecosystem that can be another magnet for the global community to visit Zimbabwe, so we really want to build the infrastructure and invest in the tourism here,” he said

LG’s Mr Yoo said cooperation with Zimbabwe would see the country being taken to “the next level” in energy transition, tourism, and fintech, among other areas.

He said what will drive the cooperation is the country’s high quality human resource.

“We would like to build hotels, build experience that global audience can appreciate. That applied to tourism, mining, fintech and all these new areas that Zimbabwe could take advantage of to take it to the next level.

“Next level of energy transition powered by your minerals, next level of tourism experience powered by the nature of Zimbabwe and the next level of fintech and software opportunities led by Zimbabwe’s high quality human resource, so we are all here to back those kind of opportunities,” he said.-herald