Zimbabwe attracted $8 billion investments this year, doubling the initial target set by the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) at the beginning of the year, as reported by Zimbabwean state media The Herald reported, citing ZIDA's Head Tafadzwa Chinamo.
"In 2023, we set out a target of $4 billion and FDIs [foreign direct investments] which is our main preoccupation was $1.5 billion, and we were also targeting domestic investments coming through ZIDA of $500 million from companies registered under ZIDA. As of September we had surpassed that $4 billion, and we were touching towards $8 billion," Chinamo was quoted by the media as saying.
Chinamo noted that "at the stage of an investor coming" only the investor's commitment could be recorded, the report said.
The report outlined that the most attractive sectors for foreign investors in the country include mining, energy and agriculture with major contributions coming from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), China, India and Saudi Arabia.
Looking ahead to the next year, ZIDA's aims to attract $15 billion investments, a goal deemed "achievable," by the agency`s head, as reported.
"In terms of confidence in achieving that, I believe it is achievable. There are some big-ticket projects out there, some of the PPPs [Private-public partnership projects] that we speak when we talk about billions worth of investments, so I think it's achievable. [...] Our aim in 2024 is to really articulate the opportunities to the investor because at the end of the day it comes down to that," he underlined.
Agriculture, one of the key fields of Zimbabwe's economy, has recently made notable achievements, gaining global recognition. This year, the Southern African state became the world leader in blueberry export growth rates.
Earlier, the Zimbabwe Agriculture Ministry reported a record-breaking tobacco production in 2023.