Investment Authority approves projects worth US$134m

Published: 04 July 2013

The Zimbabwe Investment Authority has approved projects worth US$134 million in the first five months of this year with the bulk coming from China with over US$100 million.

According to ZIA, the projects were approved in different sectors including mining, manufacturing, transport, tourism and agriculture.

China, which has been the leading foreign direct investor in the country, contributed the bulk of investments in the local manufacturing sector amounting to US$81,2 million.

The Asian nation also injected an additional US$16 million in the local mining sector.

Figures show that trade between China and Africa rose from US$9 billion in 2000 to US$200 billion in 2012.

Other significant FDI into Zimbabwe came from Mauritius which injected US$11 million in the mining and services sectors. South Africa injected US$7 million through a mining venture while Israel also topped with US$2, 6 million investments in mining.

According to the statistics, manufacturing and mining constituted the bulk of the investment inflows.

Meanwhile, latest statistics from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development show that Zimbabwe’s foreign direct investment increased from US$387 million in 2011 to US$400 million last year.

Since 2009, Zimbabwe has been registering growth in FDI following the adoption of the multi-currency regime which stabilised the economy.

Zimbabwe also embarked on a reform agenda through adoption of friendly policies to attract FDI.

These include the creation of a one-stop investment shop and the adoption of the Medium Term Plan.

The Government is working on harmonising the indigenisation and investment policies to improve FDI inflows. ZIA also embarked on the digitalisation of the one-stop shop in a bid to speed up investment procedures.

- New Ziana.