Zimpapers Logo

Mkhululi Ncube, Chronicle Reporter

INFORMATION, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa has said the country will grant citizenship to deserving investors as part of Government efforts to increase investment in the country.

The Second Republic under President Mnangagwa has been on an investment drive which has seen several investments worth billions of United States dollars being undertaken throughout the country.

When he came to power in November 2017, President Mnangagwa charmed the world with his “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” mantra, a promise that he has kept religiously in the country’s quest to become an upper middle-income economy by 2030.

President Mnangagwa’s administration has embarked on major infrastructure projects such as dams, roads and border posts among others that are expected to go a long way in improving the ease of doing business and aiding economic development and growth.

In a presentation during the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade’s senior management and ambassadors’ retreat in Bulawayo, Minister Mutsvangwa said investment will be a pathway to citizenship.

Her presentation was titled, “The Case for Branding Zimbabwe.”

The week-long retreat, which started on Monday, is being held under the theme: “Retooling Zimbabwe’s Diplomacy for Accelerated Transformation through Re-Affirmation, Engagement and Re-Engagement.”

The minister said many investors around the world are ready to flock to Zimbabwe and the Second Republic will provide an extra incentive to invest.

“Our President, His Excellency Cde Dr ED Mnangagwa, is once again going to make history by making Zimbabwe one of the first African countries to offer a pathway to citizenship through investment in Zimbabwe. Many citizens of the globe, and more importantly, the African diaspora, who are scattered in various corners of the world, are ready to come home to Africa, starting right here in Zimbabwe,” she said.

The minister said the country will host the Pan-African Congress in Victoria Falls in the first quarter of 2023 which will offer a great opportunity to strategically brand and position Zimbabwe not only in Africa but around the globe.

She briefed the ambassadors about the various projects being undertaken by the Government saying it is important for them to appreciate the work being done back home.

“At present, Domestic and Foreign Direct Investment is breathing a new entrepreneurial ethic across the length and breadth of our country. Our bountiful mineral resources are exciting and attracting the attention of world-class corporate boardrooms. Who could have dreamt that Tsingshan Holdings Group, ranked number 238 on the Fortune 500 conglomerates would establish a full carbon steel ecosystem in Zimbabwe? It started with ferrochrome furnaces in Selous on the Great Dyke. The next step was the Dinson coke batteries from thermal coal in Hwange and the final stage is the Manhize Carbon Steel Blast Furnaces in Mvuma,” she said.

“There is another world-class act going on with lithium as global transportation migrates from fossil fuels to new energy electric vehicles. A whopping $700 million worth of mergers and acquisitions have been occurring covering Arcadia in Goromonzi, Sabi in Buhera, and Zulu Lithium in Bikita. All this in a mere 5 months span. We have new industrial parks on the books. Ports, rail, road and border logistics are on the drawing board. New electricity power generators at Hwange are poised to be fired soon to add to the recently expanded Kariba South power station. There is more planned to meet burgeoning new industrial capacity.”

Minister Mutsvangwa said there are investments to harness solar energy while several innovations are coming up in agriculture. 

She said the homegrown climate-change defiant Pfumvudza-Intwasa is staving off the ravages of global warming to ensure food security. 

“Food security is further assured by bountiful and unprecedented winter wheat harvests. Dam construction is opening more land to year-round irrigation, at the same time providing piped water to urban centres. This is but a sampling of ED-works in the Second Republic. A new nation is rising, and it is as confident as it is forward-looking,” she said.

The Minister said ambassadors play a crucial role in the branding of the country`s image on the world stage. 

She said the government launched the Brand Zimbabwe project in September this year to portray a new Zimbabwe under a new political culture and industrious workmanship.

“The Brand Zimbabwe initiative signalled a re-commitment of the Second Republic’s promise to re-curate and project our true national image. That rebranding drive which includes engagement and re-engagement is creating new opportunities for partnerships and new friendships. We are meeting today with you, our country’s top diplomats, those who have the responsibility of defending and promoting all the aspects of our country, politics, defense, security, culture, investments and trade relations, to mention but a few. Our friends, potential partners, foes, and all those that are interested in the country come to you first before they land in our country. You are the first image of the country that they encounter, and as such we will often be judged or commended through you,” she said. 

The Minister said ambassadors have a special responsibility in promoting and maintaining a strong brand for the country. –@themkhust