Zimbabwe has received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) commitments worth $3 billion in the past seven weeks, as investors start warming up to the new administration in the country, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe has in recent years lagged behind regional peers in attracting FDI due to a hostile investment climate among other challenges.
But since assuming office in November last year, President Mnangagwa has declared that Zimbabwe was open for business and has promised swift reforms to improve the investment climate.
One of the biggest changes made so far was scraping the indigenisation law and making it only applicable to investments made in platinum and diamond mining.
President Mnangagwa has said Zimbabwe was ready to welcome any investor willing to set up shop in the country.
The President told party supporters in Guruve, Mashonaland Central Province that investors were flocking to Zimbabwe.
“We have said Zimbabwe is open for business,” he said.
“Before, we were struggling attracting just $400 million the whole year but we have reached $3 billion in seven weeks in direct investment commitments because we have opened Zimbabwe for business.”
President Mnangagwa said his government was implementing strategies to re-build the economy including modernising agriculture through the provision of farming equipment.
He said work was also underway to re-build strained relations with several countries within the global community.
“We want this country to grow, we want our children to have jobs and we want better lives,” he said.
Zimbabwe is slowly emerging from years of international isolation brought about by the imposition of economic sanctions by western countries, with steps being taken to re-integrate the country with the global community.
Last month, President Mnangagwa became the first President from Zimbabwe to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland where he met several global business leaders including IMF managing director Christine Lagarde.
New Ziana