Zimbabwe Lure South African Investors

In a bid to lure ample foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows, Zimbabwe’s Economic Planning and Investment Promotion MinisterTapiwa Mashakada has urged South Africa  investors (companies) to investigate investment opportunities in his country.

Speaking at the Zimbabwe investment conference themed ‘Invest in Zimbabwe, invest in a resource-rich and growing economy’ in Johannesburg, South Africa; Mashakada said “South Africa must seize the opportunity now to position themselves to invest in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe offers many opportunities across the wide spectrum of all sectors of the economy.”

The conference highlighted strong trade between South Africa and Zimbabwe including investment-ready sectors like manufacturing, mining, infrastructure, telecommunications, construction and banking.

The Zimbabwe economy is rebounding after a decade of economic decline. The conference is held at a time when the country recently successfully held its constitutional referendum, paving way for much anticipated elections later this year.

With more than 50 percent of Zimbabwe’s imports originating from South Africa, and 56 percent of Zimbabwe’s exports heading to South Africa; South Africa is arguably Zimbabwe’s largest trading partner.

South Africa and Zimbabwe must work together for the “common good” to establish strong relations with one another, Mashakada said.

Mashakada pointed out that growth of 9.4 percent is forecasted for 2012. He added that the country expect a gross domestic product ratio of 25 percent by 2015.

Treasury estimates that Zimbabwe requires a $4 billion stimulus package to grow the economy which began showing signs of slowing down last year, Bloomberg reported.