JUSTICE ZHOU

Euromoney Conferences will hold its second annual investment conference in the capital Harare to highlight Zimbabwe’s attraction as a destination for investors, it has emerged.

Slated for 21 and 22 March 2012, the second Euromoney Zimbabwe Investment Conference will provide a platform for government and private sector organisations to promote investment opportunities and commerce.

The organisers have lined up policymakers, businessmen, financiers and other key overseas speakers for the forum.

“We will look into different sectors with potential for investment and showcase the opportunities available. This is the must attend event if you are investing or looking to expand your portfolio into this reviving market,” Euromoney said.

This comes as analysts have expressed worries that political uncertainty will continue to pose strong headwinds to Zimbabwe’s economic recovery in 2012, and when the country has under a 3-year-old tripartite coalition government failed to capitalise on its vast resources to attract foreign capital.

Speakers confirmed to date include World Bank Zimbabwe’s senior country economist Nadia Piffaretti, CBZ Bank Chief Executive Officer John Mangudya and Imara Capital Zimbabwe Managing Director Sean Gammon, among others.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti has projected the economy this year will expand by 9.4 percent, 0.1 percentage points more than in 2011.

Zimbabwe has struggled to attract enough investment it requires to rebuild infrastructure that has dilapidated following years of neglect when the country plunged into a decade-long economic collapse, which was characterised by world-record hyper-inflation.

Analysts have warned that uncertainty surrounding the country’s next elections may keep investors at bay, while the government has forged ahead with a law forcing mining firms to surrender at least 51 percent stakes to blacks, which has led miners to halt expansion of their local operations.

“...the discourse on elections in Zimbabwean politics is that they are always associated with political risk which is a subject of great interest to the business community,” said Anthony Jongwe, a consultant at Global Workforce Solutions.

Zimbabwe's capital inflows have remained a apittance with just 125 million inward foreign direct investment investment (FDI) last year , less than five percent of (GDP).