via Zim fails to attract investment, ZIA – NewZimbabwe 06/05/2015
ZIMBABWE’S state investment agency has called for urgent policy and legislative reforms to attract foreign direct investment, which has remained stagnant at $400 million in the past two years.
The World Bank has ranked the country 171 out of 189 countries on its 2014 ease of doing business index, a situation attributed to negative perceptions of Zimbabwe’s policies such as its land redistribution drive as well as the current crusade to localize control of all foreign-owned enterprises.
Policy inconsistencies have also been cited as reasons behind low FDI inflows into the country.
Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA) chief executive Richard Mbaiwa told a parliamentary committee in Harare Tuesday that the country continued to lag behind its regional peers such as Mozambique and Zambia whose FDI inflows had risen to $5 billion and $2 billion, respectively.
“Zimbabwe needs to aggressively improve the overall business environment and investment climate to attract meaningful levels of investment,” Mbaiwa.
“There is need to undertake reforms so that we are seen to be making some improvements in our doing business environment.”
He said political stability, policy consistency and investor friendly policies were key in attracting investment.
Mbaiwa said some initiatives had been undertaken through various workshops and meetings with support from the World Bank and the African Development Bank to address the problem.
A national steering committee and technical working groups were set up to look at indicators that hinder ease of doing business.
“The technical groups have started meeting and have come up with recommendations which are going to be implemented and conveyed to the people doing surveys so we can see a movement in terms of the ranking for Zimbabwe in future surveys,” he said.
He said the country was targeting to break through the top 100 in the World Bank ease of doing business ranks by 2017.
ZIA had also done a “starting a business” study looking at the Registrar of Companies, City of Harare, ZIMRA, NSSA and other agencies that are involved in the registration of businesses.
“We have agreed that there is going to be convergence in terms of information requirements and that an investor should not provide the same information to multiple agencies,” he said, adding that once registered with ZIA and the Registrar of Companies, the information should be shared among agencies.
A system had also been developed to enable investors to apply for permits online and once all other agencies had computerised, then all communication would be done online.
“We believe that the system will enable us to have a virtual one-stop shop,” Mubaiwa said, adding that this would expedite registration.
He said the Act that governs investment should be amended to incorporate provisions for enforcing a one-stop shop requiring agents to comply within a specified timeframe.
Visits have also been planned to New Zealand and Mauritius ranked among the best on ease of doing business to study their systems in terms of starting and registering a company.
COMMENTS
This regime is going nowhere and wants it that way. They must realise that politics effects the economy or are they dimwits
Imagine that the police needed more volunteers to serve on the bomb disposal team, but no one would step forward. What would be the best way to get volunteers? Maybe the answer is to make the volunteering process easier and less cumbersome?
In Zimbabwe, the ease of starting and registering a business is the least of it. If there is a market for their products, business will find a way. The problem is that the market, so to speak, is very insignificant in Zimbabwe. If a foreign investor cannot make a profit in the country, he will not come – no matter how easy it is to register. Part of the reason that New Zealand ranks so high in the survey is because it is a stable democracy, which recognizes the rule of law and the right to private property. Conversely, In Zimbabwe, individuals are not free to vote as they wish and there is no faith that even if they were able to, that their vote would be accurately counted. As well, the rule of law is so corrupted as to be non-functional. Most of the judges and magistrates have been bought off by the ruling party and there’s very little chance of any justice that does not serve the interests of Mugabe and ZANU-PF. And finally, the right to private property is a charade. In Zimbabwe, apparently ZANU-PF, as government, has the right to take any private property at any time, to use as it sees fit. Under those circumstances, very few investors are interested in Zimbabwe developing more convenient ways to register a new business. But, just for the heck of it, why not spend more of the taxpayers money to go on a “working,” vacation to New Zealand?
Ah well, we have a Minister for de-industrialisation, a president who fanatically supports de-industrialisation and Ministry of de-industrialisation.
And Zim expects investment? Huh?
Don’t worry people, our president is immortal.
Don’t worry people, new colonizer China will build our economy the same way Smith built all the infrastructure we have today.
Don’t worry people, if things really get bad, our citizens will find jobs looking after the population fast getting old in China.
Don’t worry people, the African must remain at the lower end of the economic ladder. That is God’s will.
Don’t worry people, there are no younger, business minded people to run the country.
Don’t worry people, when our president appears asleep, he will be consulting ancestors to show the way.
Don’t worry people, all our problems came not from our president and his highly educated for nothing cabinet.
Don’t worry people, our problems came from MAI MUJURU (for witchcraft, murderous intents and impregnating young women; KALANGAS for being responsible for xenophobia, NDEBELES from Mat South who can’t stay at home (currently) and before her, Tsvangirayi, Tekere, Joshua Nkomo, Ndabaningi, Tony Blair, George Bush, Ian Smith and particularly Smith for building Salisbury, Bulawayo and all the cities in Zimbabwe; all the rail infrastructure, all the power infrastructure, roads criss crossing the country, schools, clinics and for educating natives who used to fight livestock wars and walked paths before 1890.
Don’t worry people, the only thing our president has built are his mansions in Borrowdale and a jackpot younger typist wife. What more do you need? This is everything!