Introduction

Zimbabwe is unique. Where else in the world can one gaze upon hundreds of species of tropical wildlife, thrill to the experience of white water rafting, scale chilly mountain peaks and savour the history of a people that goes back tens of thousands of years? These pleasures are but a few of those waiting to be discovered by the business or leisure traveller who plans to visit this gem in the heart of Africa.

Zimbabwe is blessed with such spectacular variety and beauty that it could occupy the memory of the visitor for a lifetime. To begin with, the Victoria Falls are legendary - a ferocious curtain of water seventeen hundred metres wide that plunges deep into the gorge of the Zambezi below. Downstream is Lake Kariba, a huge inland sea adorned with submarine forests, open skies and spectacular sunsets. To the east are the Highlands, fine walking and fishing country, so cool that at certain times of the year the grass in the morning can be trimmed with frost. In the west is the extraordinary jumble of granite rocks that make up the Matopos National Park so bewitching to Cecil Rhodes that he arranged to be buried there after his death.

Sprinkled from one end of the country to the other is the wildlife, so staggering in its profusion that it makes a safari through the game parks a voyage of discovery. Then there are the ruins of past civilizations, massive stone constructions of a culture whose roots are lost in the distant past. On top of all this, Zimbabwe enjoys some of the cleanest and most spacious cities in the whole of Africa, offering hotels and restaurants of a truly international standard.

The predominant ethnic group in Zimbabwe is the Shona, famous for their skills in the smelting of iron, gold and copper. Theirs was an advanced civilization long before the arrival of Europeans. The Ndebele people live mostly in the southern and western districts and are famous for their military skills in pre-colonial times. The White community no longer runs affairs but is still vital in many aspects of economic life. There is also small community of Zimbabweans of Indian origin.

Zimbabwe is situated in Southern Africa and borders Zambia to the north; South Africa to the south; Mozambique to the east; and Botswana to the west. The total land area is 390,245 square kilometres and the most of the country lays more than 300 metres above sea level. Nature has given Zimbabwe one of the finest climates in the world, which is warm without being oppressive. Generally, the days are bright and sunny and the nights are clear and cool.

The economic performance of Zimbabwe revolves around the principal economic sectors – agriculture, mining and manufacturing. Horticulture and tourism are also fast-growing sectors. Agriculture is the backbone of the Zimbabwean economy and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. The sector provides employment to some 70 percent of the population and about 60 percent of all raw materials for industry. Approximately 45 percent of the country’s exports are of agricultural origin. Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector, which produces more than 8,000 different products, is one of the most developed and diversified in Africa.


Investment Climate

The Zimbabwean economy is well integrated with a particularly strong linkage among manufacturing, mining, agriculture and commercial sectors. The country offers the entire basic infrastructure necessary to run and facilitate activities such as financial and banking services, telecommunication services, power generation, etc. The country is ideally located in the heart of Southern Africa, a position that makes it easily accessible to the rest of the sub-region. Well-developed road, rail and air transport networks link Zimbabwe with her neighbouring states. Zimbabwe has a well-educated and disciplined labour force.

Zimbabwe welcomes foreign investment from any part of the globe. Investors are free to decide the sectors in which they wish to invest. The priority sectors however are manufacturing, mining, quarrying and mineral exploration, and development infrastructure for tourism.

There is every expectation that Zimbabwe’s agrarian reforms will create vast new opportunities for creative joint ventures in such areas as manufacturing and processing.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, Zimbabwe has put in place an array of incentives to promote business and investment. These include: Duty free importation of raw materials; Free access to foreign exchange; Free repatriation of investment capital; 100 percent foreign equity in priority sectors; Tax holidays in Export Processing Zones; and more.

More information on investment opportunities in Zimbabwe can be obtained from the following websites: www.zimtrade.co.zw     www.zic.co.zw    www.zimhcindia.com


Zimbabwe – India Relations

Relations between Zimbabwe and India date back to the times of the Portuguese, when trade flourished with the Munhumutapa Kingdom, which stretched to the Indian Ocean. At the beginning of the twentieth century a great number of Indian came to Zimbabwe as indentured labourers, the majority of whom originated from Gujarat. Their presence in Zimbabwe now underpins blood relations between relations, which transcend the ocean and distance.

Since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, a number of bilateral agreements have been entered into between Zimbabwe and India to foster an increase in the volume of trade and investment between the two countries. For instance, the two countries have a Joint Commission to initiate economic and social programmes and monitor their implementation. A bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement has been signed. Institutions of organised industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), and Associated Chambers of Commerce (ASSOCHAM) signed an agreement establishing a Business Council with their Zimbabwean counterparts – Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) and Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) in 1996, with an aim to boost trade between the two countries.

Indian exports to Zimbabwe include: small-scale equipment; transport equipment and motor vehicles; organic and inorganic and agro-chemicals; bulk drugs; pharmaceuticals; chemicals; and, machine instruments. Zimbabwean exports to India include: crude minerals (especially precious stones); dyeing, tanning and colouring materials; and, non-ferrous metals.

There is scope for more interaction between the two countries’ respective private sectors such like small and medium scale enterprises, information technology, skills up-gradation, technology transfer, food processing and tourism.


Zimbabwe Country Data