Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Investment Authority approved investments worth US$685,8 million last year, down from US$909 million the previous year, according to latest statistics from ZIA, with China constituting more than 50 percent of the proposed projects.Most proposals were from mining investors with US$214 million investment projects having been approved.
Government declared mining the key driver of the economy under the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation covering 2014 to 2018.
The services sector accounted for about US$172,4 million, manufacturing US$158 million, construction US$129,4 million and the agriculture sector US$2,5 million.
China accounted for most proposals at US$389,5 constituting more than 50 percent total proposals spread across agriculture, construction manufacturing, mining services and tourism followed by Curacao at US$63,6 million, Russian (mostly mining) at US$40,1 million, UK (mostly manufacturing) at US$34 million and SA at US$38,7 million.
However, since these were proposals signalling strong interest to invest in Zimbabwe, there is need to provide maximum support to ensure they reach fruition.
Internationally, an implementation rate of 25 percent of approved projects is acceptable. As part of its monitoring efforts, ZIA visited 118 projects between January and November last year to access level on implementation and to understand challenges facing investors.
Of the projects visited, 107 were found to be at various stages of implementation, though at a much slower pace while 11 were yet to commence operations. The major challenges cited by investors included stiff competition from imports. The high cost of raw materials procured locally was also forcing investors to import at a higher price.
This translates to higher prices of the final goods, thereby making the products uncompetitive. Delays in the processing of various permits were also cited as one of the major impediments.
ZIA generally give investors two years to implement their projects, failure which they should advise the authority on the reasons for the delay and the implementation plan.