The ManicaPost
Chido Chikuni
ZIMBABWE’S participation at the 50th World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, was a big opportunity to lure foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country.
The WEF is a Geneva-based non-profit foundation committed to improving the state of the world. The WEFs’ main aim is to shape the global, regional and industrial agenda by bringing people from across the globe together to dialogue.
Zimbabwe had been isolated from potential trading partners for a long time due to illegal sanctions imposed by the West. Sanctions have been causing a lot of economic challenges and affecting development in the country. Unlike other African countries that were progressively developing owing to investment from foreign investors, Zimbabwe has been lagging behind and this has been a major stumbling block to its economic growth.
It is pleasing that the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube , represented Zimbabwe at the global indaba.
The 2020 World Economic Forum running theme was “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World”.
The key objective of this years’ WEF was to assist governments and international institutions in tracking progress towards the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as facilitating discussions on technology and trade governance.
Thus, the Paris Agreement, in simpler terms, means an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance, signed in 2016.
Zimbabwe’s presence and participation at the WEF presented a great opportunity for it to market itself to investors as well as pushing its “Zimbabwe is open for business” policy and the ease of doing business policy.
It is also one of the aims of WEF to help businesses to create the models necessary to drive enterprise in the Fourth Industrial Revolution as well as how to navigate initiatives in a world exposed to political tensions and driven by technological change as well as increasing expectations from all stakeholders.
Posting on his official Twitter handle Prof Ncube highlighted that among other activities, he held a meeting with the Swiss Minister of Finance, Ms Daniela Stoffel.
Minister Ncube tweeted: “Davos WEF 2020: Meeting the State Minister for Finance of Switzerland, Hon Daniela Stoffel. We discussed issues of how to increase investment by Swiss companies into Zimbabwe; re-engagement and debt arrears clearance; and progress on economic reforms in Zimbabwe.”
In addition, the WEF gives Zimbabwe the golden opportunity to interact and engage with many leaders of different countries across of the world, unlike the UK-Africa Summit, in which the United Kingdom failed to invite its significant trading partners, including Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Surprising to note was that out of 54 African countries, only 21 were invited. And, of the 21 invited, only 15 Heads of State attended the summit. Such a poor attendance leaves a lot to be desired.
Thus, there has been lack of consistency in the UK’s approach. If UK was committed to the entire African continent, the number of attendees at its summit could have been more than 15.
Zimbabwe has various investment opportunities where investors can come and invest. For instance, investors interested in the mining industry can be involved in the extraction of vast mineral resources such as gold, platinum, lithium, diamonds and Chrome, among others.
Under agricultural sector, investors can promote and finance the production and marketing of cotton, tobacco, timber, coffee, tea and macadamia nuts, among other crops.
Adding on to that, investors can also do businesses under the tourism sector. The tourism sector has strong links to economic growth. The tourism industry has been increasingly valued for its contribution to economic growth, employment, poverty reduction and earning of exports revenues.
Zimbabwe has various tourist attractions of interest to any serious investor, for instance, the Victoria Falls, Chinhoyi Caves, Mana Pools and Lake Kariba.
Apart from the WEF, Zimbabwe can also engage with other countries in the continent in promoting trade and investments.
Recently, ZimTrade, the national trade development and promotion organisation, launched the Rwanda-Zimbabwe Trade and Investment Conference.
The first conference will be held in March, in Kigali, and will serve as a platform to open up investment opportunities between the two nations as they build a conducive business environment and strengthening trade relations.
Zimbabwe has the greatest potential of exporting pharmaceutical products, dried fish, iron bars and rods or non-alloy steel, flue-cured and manufactured tobacco and wooden furniture to Rwanda. Reports have it that Rwanda has sustained high economic growth of over eight percent since 2017.
