South Africa had a moral and business obligation to aide the growth of its neighbours and Zimbabwe was moving to put its best foot forward to ensure it attracted the investment it needed to bolster its industrialisation and development programmes from South Africa.

Speaking in Johannesburg in late November, Zimbabwe Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said he hoped to persuade South African investors to inject funds into the recovering country, as the potential of Zimbabwe was “enormous”.

“We are not a basket case – I think the figures [depicting the two countries’ intertrade] show [this],” he told delegates at a breakfast hosted by The Herald Business.

Last year, Zimbabwe’s import and export trade with South Africa reached $3-billion and $1.4-billion respectively.

Trade data from January to October this year showed total imports of $5.29-billion and total exports of $2.4-billion. Of this, $2.26-billion was imported from South Africa into Zimbabwe, while $1.58-billion was exported to South Africa, Zimbabwe’s largest export partner.

The trade deficit, which was in favour of South Africa, needed to be narrowed, said Zimbabwe Minister of Trade and Industry Michael Bimha.

Chinamasa explained that it was not in the interest of the South African economy to sidestep its neighbours, which should experience the same development as South Africa.

The Minister shared his intention of transforming a historically skewed and unhealthy relationship between South Africa and Zimbabwe, while re-establishing Zimbabwe to “play its part” in the mainstream global economy.

“Zimbabwe has gone through hell since 1998,” Chinamasa said, explaining that many sanctions, besides other factors, had “crippled” the economy.

However, he averred, the worst was over and Zimbabwe was “still standing”.

“We are giving full disclosure of the challenges faced . . . but I am sleeping better now, as the country has crafted a path towards economic growth.”

Zimbabwe had also embarked on a shake-up of its legislation and regulation, as well as introducing several tax incentives to woo South African investors.

“We are ready to tackle a lot of policy environment issues,” he added, stating that there were only “one or two” left to finalise.

Government aimed to clarify its indigenisation law, which it believed was misinterpreted, and was in the process of approving legislation for the establishment of special economic zones to promote a vibrant and robust manufacturing sector. The country’s labour legislation was also being reviewed.

Further, Bimha planned to deliver, within the next two weeks, recommendations to Cabinet to mitigate the factors underlying Zimbabwe’s poor rankings in terms of the ease of doing business.

“We are on the right track and we are going to become a hot destination for investment,” he said.

Now the country was seeking South African partners to impart technology, capital and managerial talent.

Bimha said the priority areas included the food, beverage and tobacco sector, the clothing and textiles and leather and leather products sectors, the fertilisers, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and packaging sectors, as well as the metals and electronics sectors.

The wood, timber and furniture sector also emerged as a key area of play for investors.

Further, Zimbabwe’s “huge” infrastructure gap, particularly in power, given its 1 000 MW deficit, as well as underdeveloped roads and railways, offered many opportunities for investors.

Chinamasa said value addition and beneficiation would be critical to the country’s growth, particularly as it boasted more than 40 minerals and this, along with the development of social services, would also be a focus area.