By
Bernard Bwoni
It is a very delicate centrepiece of economies worldwide
and it can easily fall apart under the burden of unpredictability,
unreliability and uncertainty. Investor confidence is built on pillars of
probity, certainty and preciseness. It is a fact that investors require mollycoddling
by virtue of being the bearers of the much-hyped and much-needed foreign direct
investment into the country. It has to be said that Zimbabwe as a country has a
just cause for some of the economic decisions and policies the country had to
embark on in the past. Unfortunately some of these decisions have led to conflict
with potential investors mainly those from the western world. This is such an
unfortunate scenario because Zimbabwe has a contrived but shared history with
the West especially the former coloniser Britain. The past shared history has
been far from rosy but there is a shared history all the same.
Words are very powerful and even more so in
business. Getting the right tone of voice is probably one of the most important
steps in rebuilding Brand Zimbabwe to the outer and wider world. The tone is
often an external prognostication of Brand Zimbabwe’s core values and it needs
to consistently continue to demonstrate what really defines this brand called
Zimbabwe. The fact of the matter is that Brand Zimbabwe is warm, welcoming,
peaceful, fair, accommodating and flexible and all this needs to be conveyed appropriately.
The national tone has to be consistent as it is a key determinant of how
potential investors, visitors and other interested stakeholders view Brand
Zimbabwe. It is the nature and nurture of the tone that either pulls in or push
out those interested in doing business with the country. In any business
relationship and setting, tone is critical because words are precise and can be
precarious if not measured accurately to gauge potential reactions of the recipients
of the message conveyed. It is stating the obvious that low confidence impedes
economic growth, destroys national reputation and reduces investment into the
country.
The national tone and marketing of Brand Zimbabwe
is not the prerogative of the ruling party alone but all Zimbabweans. The opposition
in any country is there to challenge the ruling party on matters of policy and
that is a good thing. However there is need to separate the lure of political
mudslinging from the marketing of Brand Zimbabwe. There is everything wrong
with Zimbabweans themselves de-marketing Zimbabwe. Negativity devours at
national spirit, it fractures the very essence of our potential as Zimbabweans
and cripples every deoxyribonucleic acid traits dedicated to national progression.
The thing with negativity is that it amplifies itself thousands of times and if
unrestricted it has disastrous and ruinous consequences. The mind is
susceptible to negativity and negativity has a life of its own. Zimbabweans of
all affiliations have a duty to market the country and market it well. This
negativity destroys national vision, results in individual internal blindness
and makes it impossible to see any of the opportunities the country has to offer.
That Zimbabwe is confronted with many challenges is an understatement but when
addressing these challenges it is important to focus on the unlimited
possibilities of tomorrow.
The country has to start looking at all available
strategies to rebuild Brand Zimbabwe, lure investors, to instil confidence and
add real value to the economy. For Zimbabwe to build a sound and dynamic market
it has to build on exceptional standards of corporate governance premised on
key principles of impartiality, honesty, clarity and responsibility. Zimbabwe
has the right policies and people in place and all that is required is to offer
assurances to those who want to bring their money into the country. It is their
money at the end of the day and the country could do with that money right now
anyway. Changing the tone cannot be that hard surely, for the sake of Brand
Zimbabwe. The information to potential investors has to be precise and
sufficient to enable them to make properly informed decisions. There is need
for clarity and composure in terms of communicating and presenting the brand called
Zimbabwe. The frustrating thing is that Zimbabwe has massive potential yet it
has continued to fare poorly against regional neighbours on the global investor
confidence and perception scales. The key stumbling block has been
communication, the conflicting tones from some sections of the upper echelons
of power and the inter-party and intra-party squabbling. There is an urgent need to find the right
balance between local value addition to the economy and providing a positive
investment climate for all investors.
Zimbabwe has to urgently start simplifying
processes, improving the country’s attractiveness and start massaging the
investor with open palms using the locally-packaged Brand Zimbabwe attractiveness
oils. The country is an attractive investment destination but not to everyone
apparently and as such has to address those areas where it is less attractive.
There is need for simplification shocks and in some cases the
over-simplification of the lives of potential domestic, regional or
international investors. The country will have to simplify all systems and
manners of doing business in Zimbabwe, simplify everything and start looking at
case studies from regional neighbours to see where they are excelling and
lacking and can look into improving and buttressing its own internal systems. Zimbabwe
has to start looking into attracting more entrepreneurs, more regional and
international inventors, thinkers, brains and the best that is out there. There
is need for thorough, robust and corruption-resistant mechanisms to follow up
on every investment project presented into the country from the moment the
investor lands until they leave.
The country has a well educated population but
focus now should be on attracting more talent into the country. The key word
here is ‘talent’ not just education on its own. There is a highly talented
Diaspora community and beyond to tap into.
Zimbabwe can draw on the experience of regional neighbours such as South
Africa and Botswana who have all been benefitting from Zimbabwe’s own talents,
skills, expertise and experience. The priority now should be on creating the
right environment to attract these exceptional minds and this critical human
investment back into the country. The United Kingdom, Australia, the United
States, Canada, New Zealand and many other countries have provided attractive
conditions to Zimbabwean expatriates and Zimbabwe has to match those conditions
to be able to gain this crucial resource back into the country. This is in no
way meant to say that there are no great minds, skills and experience in
Zimbabwe presently because there are but there is need to highlight the fact
that there is competition out there for skills and talent and the reality is that
the country is not benefiting at all from any of this.
The indigenisation and economic empowerment
policies have no doubt been misunderstood and misrepresented and this has
created some doubts in some potential and current investors. The country’s VP
Emmerson Mnangagwa has rightly pointed out that there is need to look at
addressing some of the bureaucratic bottlenecks that continue to frustrate
potential investors into the country. Attractiveness is about looking into
comprehensive responses to investor enquiries taking all the specifications
into account and adding others such as health systems effectiveness, quality of
life and good infrastructure and public transport systems in place. Investors
want to know that workers will be healthy and are able to get into work on
time. Businesses run smoothly on good infrastructures.
China is Zimbabwe’s saviour from the East and
learning from how she went about attracting investors during the 1970s when she
initially opened her economy to Foreign Direct Investment is crucial to the
country’s own re-emergence. Interestingly the decision to open up China to the
world economy was drafted into the state constitution adopted by the Six
National People’s Congress whereby investors were allowed to undertake their
own infrastructures development and other investment as long as they could
raise the funds from taxation, from profits of the businesses they owned or
from banks. Zimbabwe has just had its extraordinary Six Peoples National
Congress and could take a leaf out of the Chinese approach by calling upon more
investors to develop their own businesses inside the country thereby creating
more formal jobs the electorate would so much prefer compared to the
unpredictable informal sector. The key here is to continue building and
updating the country’s infrastructure and industrial development zones where
investors can enjoy investment incentives and some exemptions to make the
country more attractive and a better destination than regional competition.
Credit has to be given where it is due and the Ministry headed by one Obert
Mpofu has been by far the best performing and with the recent news that the
China-Zimbabwe deals sealed by President Mugabe in China last year have started
is great news. The Hwange Thermal Power Station expansion, the Kariba South
Hydro Power Station and Gwayi-Shangani Thermal Power Station have all started
and are due for completion in 2018. This is music to any potential investor and
the country has to continue to serenade the investor with the same consistent
ballade.
The niggling issues of corruption and unsustainable
government spending have to be addressed and nothing else will do. The
government has to tackle corruption, keep taxes low and continue with the infrastructure
rehabilitation and construction drive rather than use revenue for consumption
expenditure. The country has to create loud, gentle, sexy and effective
marketing strategies to lure more potential investors. Zimbabwe cannot continue
on this complacent path because there are still a number of issues that hamper
the entry of new investors into the country. The government can offer tax
breaks as well as looking into reducing tax profits on those investors who are
in joint partnerships with local Zimbabweans. They can also set minimum numbers
of local employees that any new business starting to operate in Zimbabwe should
employ and again tax breaks could be offered for those who comply. This is
about offering incentives to attracting more and more investors into the
country. These are just suggestions and there is more that the country can do.
To realise the required over 6% economic growth rates Zimbabwe has to target at
least $3 billion dollars in foreign direct investment.
Zimbabwe has a large local market, sound
infrastructures and a well regulated banking system and that makes it a haven
for potential investors. Foreigners are allowed to invest in all sectors of the
economy except those reserved for locals and foreign investors have the option
of going into partnerships with locals. The country could start looking into
Bilateral Investment Agreements to offer the assurances that potential
investors have continued to clamour for. The idea is to find the right balance between
enabling the country’s economic empowerment policies and offering assurances to
potential investors.
bernardbwoni.blogspot.com
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