The Sunday Mail
Martin Kadzere
Zimbabwe is pursuing investment protection and multilateral investment guarantee agreements in order to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and re-engage with the international community, Industry and Commerce Minister Dr Sekai Nzenza has said.
The agreements will, among other things, protect investments from expropriation and provide an opportunity for aggrieved investors to seek redress in international courts.
This dovetails with President Mnangagwa’s “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” initiative.
Zimbabwe has 12 ratified Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements (BIPPAs) while 12 more have been singed and await ratification.
Twenty-three are being negotiated.
Dr Nzenza told the Turkey-Africa Economic and Business Forum on Thursday that the agreements would help Zimbabwe unlock investments in areas of value addition and beneficiation, as well as infrastructure.
“I want to bring to the fore the investment opportunities and market access available in Zimbabwe and reassure the house that within His Excellency, Dr E. D. Mnangagwa’s re-engagement strategy, we are pursuing Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements as well as Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agreements.
“This is being done with the support of our recently operationalised one-stop investment shop under the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA),” said Dr Nzenza.
“We need to do this as a matter of urgency.”
The business forum, held in Istanbul from October 21-22, provided a platform for Turkish businesses to gain a foothold on the African continent.
It was organised by the Turkish government and the African Union (AU).
Trade between Turkey and Africa has ballooned from US$5,5 billion in 2003 to more than US$25,3 billion by 2020, according to official statistics.
During the same period, Turkey’s FDI in Africa expanded to US$6,5 billion from US$100 million.
Since 2009, Turkish embassies in Africa grew from a dozen to 43.
This year, it opened the 44th embassy in Guinea-Bissau.
Dr Nzenza said there were vast investment opportunities that Turkish companies can tap into, including agriculture and agro-processing, mining and mineral beneficiation, manufacturing and value addition, tourism development, infrastructure development in energy, transport, Information and Communication Technology, water and irrigation development, financial and other service sectors.
Zimbabwe, she added, was also pursuing an aggressive industrialisation agenda anchored on investment and private sector-led economic development.
“In pursuit of re-industrialisation strategy, Zimbabwe has embarked on sector-specific strategies with a view to increase production, productivity and profitability as we leverage our economy into the international market.”
The country has consolidated pro-market trade and investment policies under the ambit of the Zimbabwe National Industrialisation Development Policy, which is encapsulated in the National Development Strategy 1.
In order to broaden its frontiers, the country has participated in high-level business gatherings such as the Russia International Industrial Trade Fair, the ongoing Dubai Expo and Zimbabwe-Rwanda Investment Conference.
The country has also undertaken targeted and strategic measures to ensure improvement of the ease of doing business environment through the creation of ZIDA – the one-stop shop investment and trade facilitation institution – and Zimtrade, and the creation and streamlining of the National Quality Policy with a view to have it aligned to regional and international practices.
Mutual Recognition Agreements would facilitate ease of export and trade, and integration of national policies.
