President Emmerson Mnangagwa speaking to diplomats at a lunch he hosted for them on Thursday to mark the beginning of his business year stated that he had assented to the Zimbabwe Investment Development Authority Bill and it was now signed into law. The concept of the Bill has been floating around for over 10 years and it is finally law. It seeks to bring all agencies concerned with or involved in the approval and easing of investment decisions in the country into one office and hence make the process of getting investment approval, mostly where foreigners are involved easier.
The Bill will bring together the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), National Social Security Authority (NSSA), Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA), Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), the State Enterprises Restructuring Agency and specialised investment units and other relevant line ministries. One can’t help but wonder why it took a decade and an entire act of parliament to bring these offices together in one place.
Zimbabwe’s track record in the World Bank ease of doing Business report clearly shows that the country struggles with many things. A look at the 2019 and 2020 doing business reports shows that while compared to other nations such as the continental benchmark Rwanda we are slow when it comes to starting businesses, we should be much more worried about issues such as Enforcing contracts and connecting electricity. Of course, opening businesses faster is great but ensuring their long term viability is much more important.
With the infrastructure, electricity, water and alternative energy challenges Zimbabwe faces and not mentioning the crippling foreign currency shortages we will accept any move as good enough. Speaking frankly this move opens the gates for more businesses to come in and suffer as those present have suffered. The announcement of the signing of the bill being done in front of foreign diplomats says everything about who this bill is for, the mythical foreign investor. Of course, foreign investors exist, even though we have become accustomed to them coming in with questionable dealings. The concept of hoping the country will be saved by foreign investors when we ignore domestic investors has not worked well so far.
The President notably promised to speed up reforms. Perhaps this an admission that firstly not enough has been done and secondly the pace at which things have been done leaves a lot to be desired. In the meanwhile, we can look forward to a smoother process for registering businesses and investments in the nation.
