Business Correspondent
The Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (Zida) has established an aftercare unit to investigate why investors are leaving the country.
There has been a flight of several international companies with several prospective investors undecided on whether to pour in their money citing the challenging economic environment and high country risk, among other issues.
A volatile economic and political environment as well as policy inconsistency since the turn of the millennium have also precipitated rapid capital flight, with investors expressing concern over bottlenecks in the economy.
The uncertainty of the currency instability is exercerbating the situation.
Zida CEO Tafadzwa Chinamo explained,
“We want to diagnose any challenges investors might be facing and address issues that might lead to them leaving.”
Chinamo likened the aftercare unit to post-operative care, saying,
“We issue licenses and help investors establish themselves, but we also want to check in and see how things are going.”
ZIDA is also creating an online platform to connect small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with potential investors and working to make the organization a one-stop shop for investors by incorporating various government agencies.
“We want to take it a step further and make sure we’re delivering a service to our investors at a standard that’s in keeping with best practice,” Chinamo said.
ZIDA has signed 12 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in the last 12 months to expand its reach for investment opportunities and has solidified relations with business groups to meet the economy’s expectations.
Chinamo emphasized the importance of collaboration, saying,
“We believe that by ourselves, we will not be able to deliver this mandate. But if we work collaboratively internally within government, and also with the private sector, we can achieve our goals.”
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