Minister Barbara Rwodzi
By Dickson Bandera
Zimbabwe is fast awakening and availing investment opportunities to both local and foreign investors in its various sectors of the economy.
The fast economic recovery and growth owing to the economic reforms spearheaded by President Mnangagwa’s government since 2017 have reconfigured the country into an investment-friendly destination, with enhanced capacity to lure new capital and foreign direct investment.
Reforms have also reduced the cost of doing business whilst creating a business environment that promotes a competitive private sector, secured with legal protection to all investments.
Restrictive legislation and policies which were repelling investors have been reviewed and a standalone institution, the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (ZIDA) was established for ease of doing business. Special Economic Zones have also been established with a host of incentives available to investors.
Remarkably, the notorious 51-49% share ratio of the Indigenisation and Empowerment Act of 2007, which was scaring investors away was repealed and now investors can even retain 100% share ownership in some sectors.
Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Hon Barbara Rwodzi was upbeat about these developments when she officially opened the Tourism Investment Forum in Bulawayo this Friday morning.
The Tourism Investment Forum is one of the key meetings at the ongoing Sanganai Hlanganani World Tourism Expo that brings together government officials, project promoters, developers, financiers, operators, policy makers, key service providers as well as potential investors to discuss on the opportunities and other pertinent issues in the tourism sector.
The Minister gave the Zimbabwe tourism industry overview, outlining the abundant opportunities that await investors in the sector as well as the government’s vision.
“Under the National Development Strategy 1 (2021-2025), tourism is touted as one of the key priority economic sectors with a high potential to contribute to national economic growth and development. Zimbabwean government has created a conducive and favourable investment environment with investment opportunities abundant in the tourism sector,” she said.
The Minister advised the attendants to look into opportunities in both traditional and new hot spots which are coming up as the government continues to open the space for investment.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, apart from the traditional investment destinations such as Victoria Falls, Kariba, the Eastern Highlands, Harare and Bulawayo; there are new frontiers worth taking note of. The new frontiers include the New City (Mt Hampden), Binga, Tugwi-Mukosi, Kanyemba, and Mazowe. In fact, these have become new tourism capital investment hotspots, in Zimbabwe as they continue to receive serious enquiries from prospective investors,” said the minister.
In particular, she also emphasized that Investors need to consider investing in the Accomodation, Conferences and Entertainment facilities as there is a huge shortage in this area.
“Opportunities for investment in Zimbabwe are rife especially in accommodation, conferencing facilities, entertainment, and theme parks, and so on. Currently Zimbabwe has 14 034 rooms and very limited conferencing capacity. This shows the high magnitude of the investment opportunities that we have in this sector,” she said.
“One of our prime recommendations is investment into conferencing facilities with a capacity of least 1000 pax at any given time. This gives us opportunities to host major conferences that will see the growth of our Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibiting Events (MICE) tourism,” she added.
President, Cde Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa’s vision is to develop Zimbabwe into an upper middle income country by 2030 and the current development trajectory is pointing in that direction.
Hon Rwodzi acknowledged the key role played by tourism in the national development plan.
“The tourism industry is a key pillar that enables the achievement of this vision. To this end, it is pleasing to see you all here gathered for this Tourism Investment Forum. We individually and collectively make up the tourism industry matrix in Zimbabwe.
“We have a prediction that the tourism sector should contribute at least US$600 million to total capital investments by 2025 while at the same time; the tourism industry rise to US$5 billion,” she added.
While investors require surety about the security of their investments, Minister Rwodzi assured investors of government’s commitment to provide help and support as well as security of their investment s.
“The Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe stands ready to render all the necessary support you will require.
“Zimbabwe is a safe and secure tourism investment destination – and the best time to invest is now. The Government has developed Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in some parts of the country, including this host city (Bulawayo), Harare and Victoria Falls, with special investment incentives availed to such zones,” she said.
