A source who works in the European Investment Bank (EIB) revealed to the Harare Post on condition of anonymity that officials from the World Bank are set to undertake an economic mission to Zimbabwe sometime in October.
The objective of the mission is to carry out a financial sector assessment to identify local partner banks, which would manage credit lines on behalf of EIB. The EIB plans to support private sector development in the country and to safeguard the banking sector from failure.
This economic mission complements President Mnangagwa`s economic reforms.
In the engagements and re-engagement efforts President Mnangagwa has instilled confidence in the international community hence the positive results of more investors coming in to Zimbabwe.
In another development, German multinational conglomerate, Siemens revealed that it has plans to partner Zimbabwe in the development of alternative sources of power generation to augment existing ones.
This renewed interest by investors to set-up businesses in the country is an indicator that the ease of doing business initiatives and economic reforms being undertaken by Government are bearing fruits.
The efforts by President Mnangagwa are also being complemented by the tourist attractions in the country.
Zimbabwe naturally is a beautiful country which has a good climate, but investors during the old dispensation turned a blind eye to all the good things in the country and, resultantly, the international community was forced to shun Zimbabwe despite all the natural resources in the country.
The policies in the old dispensation’s policy of “doing it alone” made it impossible for the international community to come and invest in Zimbabwe.
The old dispensation created enemies with most of the world as it insisted that the country would go it alone. This created apprehension amongst the international community and many international companies closed as a result. These included Colgate Palmolive, Heinz and Reckitt & Colman among others.
President Mnangagwa`s vision of engaging and re-engaging the international community will continue to attract more investors in our journey to a middle income economy.
“Our country is ready for a sturdy re-engagement programme with all the nations of the world. We will take definite steps to re-engage those nations who had issues with us in the past,” the President always tells the world.
President Mnangagwa’s Government has taken the re-engagement drive to remind investors what the country has to offer. This complements Government’s “Zimbabwe is open for business” investor attraction thrust.
The fruits are now there for all to see despite the Government detractors’ claims that it is not making progress. The country is moving forward and it is a matter of personal choice to move forward with Government or to remain stuck in the past.
