Sanctions, Tense Political Situation in Zimbabwe Discouraging Foreign Investors
Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo and central bank governor John Mangudya are expected to attend an investors forum in New York on Monday.
WASHINGTON — Evans Zininga The international business sector is facing some challenges in investing in Zimbabwe due to the current social, economic and political situation in Zimbabwe. Gavin Serkin, one of the organizers of the Zimbabwe Investors’ Forum set for Monday in New York to be attended by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo and central bank governor John Mangudya, says investors are constrained mostly by restrictive sanctions imposed by USA and other Western nations on top Zanu PF officials. Serkin says Zimbabwe is not yet open for business as many foreign investors are still skeptical about the prevailing situation in the southern African nation, which is preparing for crucial general elections this year. He said, “... Right now the business sector is limited because of sanctions apart from anything else because you are in a situation in which it’s still very early days in terms of the new administration. There are still a lot of concerns that investors have.” He said the sanctions are “restricting even logistical issues like simply travelling to the United States and elsewhere … And so from the sanctions perspective, the deeds from the markets is definitely ‘wait and see what happens from here’.” Serkin says the visiting high-powered Zimbabwean delegation is expected to address some of these issues at the Zimbabwe Investors’ Forum. President Emmerson Mnangagwa toppled former ruler Robert Mugabe last November in what Mugabe has described as a military coup. But Mnangagwa maintains that Mugabe stepped down when thousands of people staged a protest in the country before the military and parliament intervened and forced him to step down. The West imposed targeted sanctions on Mugabe and his inner circle due to alleged election rigging and human rights violations.