The Sunday Mail
THE Zimbabwe Investment Authority is bullish on prospects of attracting more than US$2 billion in potential investment this year as it has approved applications worth US$721 million in the first three months of 2015.
First quarter figures represent a 675 percent leap from approvals (US$93 million) that were made in the same period last year.
Thirty-four projects, with the potential to create 3 466 jobs across all sectors of the economy, were approved.
Of these, four projects worth US$660 million were from foreign investors, while 30 projects worth US$54,8 million are joint venture projects between local and foreign investors.
The bulk of the approvals – 15 projects valued at US$673 million – in the quarter under review are for the manufacturing sector. The service sector has nine projects with an estimated value of US$33 million. Mining, a key economic sector, has four projects with capacity to create 120 jobs.
Critically, in March alone approvals topped US$678 million.
The manufacturing sector had the highest number of applications in March (US$666 million), with Mauritius weighing in with US$653 million worth of projects.
China, India, Lebanon also expressed interest in manufacturing.
Investors from the United Arab Emirates, China, Israel and the United Kingdom were more inclined to investments in mining.
Mining accounts for more than 50 percent of the country’s total exports, and its contribution to GDP grew from an average four percent in the 1990s to about 13 percent between 2009 and 2011.
Zimbabwe has over 40 tradeable minerals, and holds the world’s second-largest platinum reserves.
There has been a deliberate shift towards manufacturing, as evidenced by 2015 Q1 figures.
ZIA public relations manager Mr Nickson Kanyemba said the renewed interest in this sector was in sync with the country’s five-year economic blueprint, Zim-Asset, which emphasises value addition and beneficiation.
“These (approved projects) are mainly in manufacturing and it is a good sign for the economy; there is a growing appetite for investment in manufacturing,” said Mr Kanyemba.
