Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has urged foreign investors to take advantage of investment opportunities in the southern African country following the partial lifting of U.S. sanctions. He made the call on Tuesday at the Zimbabwe Investment and Capital Markets Conference in London, the United Kingdom.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance, Mthuli Ncube has noted that the Zimbabwean government is concerned that President Emmerson Mnangagwa, some individuals, and businesses remain under sanctions through the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA) of 2001. He noted that despite economic headwinds, Zimbabwe remains an attractive investment destination as the government is focused on rebuilding the country and recovering lost ground by implementing policies to transform Zimbabwe into an upper middle-income economy by 2030 through the promotion of domestic and foreign investment.
He made the remark on Tuesday, during the Zimbabwe Investment and Capital Markets Conference in London, the United Kingdom, calling on investors to take advantage of investment opportunities in the southern African state, following the partial lifting of economic sanctions by the US earlier this year. According to Ncube, private sector investment activities, particularly foreign direct investment, will complement the country’s national development efforts by enhancing technology transfer, deepening productive linkages and value chains, and boosting overall competitiveness.
He further pointed out that one of the weaknesses in the structure of Zimbabwe’s economy, which presents an opportunity for investors, is its over-reliance on the primary sectors of agriculture and mining. To him, Zimbabwe has several investment opportunities across all sectors, both green and brown fields, making it one of the investment destinations of choice. Ncube stressed that Zimbabwe is open for business in all sectors of the economy and to all investors, issuers, and market intermediaries, including Zimbabweans in the diaspora.
The US first imposed economic and travel sanctions on Zimbabwe in the early 2000s – targeting then President Robert Mugabe and dozens of other high-ranking government officials, whom Washington accused of undermining democracy in the country. But in March this year, US President Joe Biden through an executive order terminated the national emergency that revoked the Department of the Treasury’s economic sanctions which had previously been imposed on the Southern African country.
