Zida moves to address investor concerns

THE Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (Zida) is working round the clock to operationalise a system for resolving investor complaints in line with international best practices.

The system is contained in the Zida (General Investments) regulations, Statutory Instrument 227 of 2023, which provide for the licensing procedure for general investment licences.

The regulations provide for both investor licensing and registration which are two separate processes. Investor registration is available to all existing investment projects established without the Zida investment licence, and this applies to investors who are not in a Special Economic Zone (Sez) or a public private partnership (IPP).

“The General Investments Regulations also provide an investor grievance response mechanism (IGRM), a mechanism for settling early-stage investor grievances before they escalate into full blown legal disputes,” Zida said in its latest report.

“This innovative provision is in line with international best practices and is an effort to curb divestment in the country. The focus for Q1 (first quarter) of 2024 will be to fully operationalise the IGRM, developing standard operating procedures and automation.

“It is the agency’s aspiration that by the end of the year, the processes for lodging a complaint under IGRM would be fully automated.”

The agency will be working closely with the ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion on public private partnership (PPPs) guidelines.

These are envisaged to fully expand the PPP investment cycle from what is provided for in the fourth schedule of the Zida Act and ensure that the processes are in line with international best practice.

The government in November last year promulgated the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency Act [Chapter 14:38] Regulations for Sez and General Investments.

The Zida (Sez) Regulations, Statutory Instrument 226 of 2023 provide for the application procedure for Sez.

Applications for designation of land as Sez are now in terms of the regulations and the applicant must prove ownership of land by way of land title or a lease of not less than 25 years.

The regulations further provide for the developer, operator, and investor of any Sez. A developer is responsible for developing the Sez, by setting up the basic infrastructure and the operator manages the Sez once it is fully functional.-ebusinessweekly