The Sunday Mail
American conglomerate General Electric is assessing Zimbabwe’s energy, rail services, aviation and healthcare sectors ahead of its planned investment.
Executives from the company will be in Harare following GE Africa president and chief executive Mr Jay Ireland’s meeting with President Emmerson Mnangagwa on the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Kigali, Rwanda a fortnight ago.
In e-mailed responses to inquiries from The Sunday Mail, Mr Ireland said GE was keen to follow up with action on the ground.
“GE is looking in the infrastructure space where we traditionally operate — power/energy, aviation, healthcare and rail. We do all this work on the back of our industrial digitisation strategy. We have initiated discussions with the authorities and we are keen to follow up on a number of these key projects.
“We have committed to engaging with various Government stakeholders where we are sharing the GE value proposition and, in some instances, getting a high-level understanding and interrogating policy in respect of the projects we are looking at.
“Various business leaders within GE will be engaging with business leaders and the authorities at various times. We are still looking at the opportunities that exist and would like to evaluate them. It’s still uncertain at this stage (when the investment will take off), but we have GE people assessing these opportunities and making it their business to look at business viability and fit.”
GE specialises in various products and services, among them aircraft engines, electrical distribution, electric motors, energy, gas, finance, healthcare, lighting, locomotives, oil and wind turbines.
In 2017, the company accrued US$122 billion revenue from its global operations.
It is the world’s 14th largest company (Global 2000 Rank, 2017) with roughly US$365,2 billion in assets, a market value of US$261,2 billion and US$10 billion annual profits.
It operates in African countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Ghana, Mozambique and Kenya where its continental headquarters are.
In February 2018, then US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Harry Thomas told The Sunday Mail, after GE officials visited Harare for preliminary engagement, that: “We were very excited that General Electric came. And even better, they are going to come back soon!
“They are looking at infrastructure projects.
‘‘We will have to see what details there are. We were pleased they met with the Parliament and Cabinet. I think that’s key as we go forward. They’ll make the decisions that are in their best interest and also on how they can best help the people of Zimbabwe because you want jobs, you want power.
“So, GE can be key to that because, of course, they were very involved in Hwange years ago. . . The important thing that you should be excited about is that they came and that they are coming back. A company as large as GE takes time to make decisions.
“They have to talk to everybody there. But I think it’s positive that they came; the most important thing for them is: can they get their money out? What are the property rights? Those things will be key. But we are very encouraged that they were here and that they are coming back.”
