Antony Chawagarira
HARARE – Zimbabwe has identified 98 potential investment opportunities requiring about US$923 million in financing, with 31 priority projects accounting for US$535 million of the pipeline.
The investment opportunities span agriculture, renewable energy, financial services, manufacturing, real estate, and infrastructure, offering the potential to expand businesses, create jobs, and support economic transformation.
The findings are contained in the Zimbabwe Impact Investment Map developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA), with technical support from CrossBoundary Advisory.
The map was presented during the National Stakeholder Forum on Impact Investment, held in Harare on September 11, bringing together government, businesses, banks, pension funds, insurers, international investors, industry associations, and development partners.
UNDP Zimbabwe Resident Representative Dr Ayodele Odusola said the exercise had moved the country a step closer to connecting development priorities with investment capital.
“The Zimbabwe Impact Investment Map should not be seen as the launch of another report. It is market intelligence intended to help us move from development priorities to investable solutions,” he said.
The mapping exercise found that the average financing requirement across the 98 opportunities was about US$9.4 million, while 15 projects could potentially advance within six months if they receive the necessary project preparation, due diligence, and investor support.
More than 85 potential capital providers were also mapped, including development finance institutions, impact investors, debt funds, private equity funds, and domestic financial institutions.
UNDP said the opportunities could help connect smallholder farmers to formal markets, expand energy access, improve financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, strengthen local manufacturing, and contribute to reducing Zimbabwe’s housing deficit.
However, the development partners stressed that being included on the map did not mean that a project was already investment-ready.
Individual businesses and projects would still need to demonstrate sound financial performance, credible management, appropriate financing structures, and measurable development impact before securing investment.
Dr Odusola said the immediate task was to identify projects that could move forward and address the barriers standing between viable opportunities and capital.
“The findings show that Zimbabwe has a tangible opportunity pipeline and that potential providers of capital exist, but the critical question is how we move from opportunities to bankable transactions,” he said.
The forum proposed the establishment of an investment-facilitation platform to prepare projects, match them with suitable investors, and support potential transactions.
Businesses would also be supported in improving financial information and investment proposals, while banks could develop longer-term and more flexible financing products suited to SMEs and other underserved sectors.
The roadmap further calls for guarantees and other risk-sharing mechanisms to reduce investment risks, as well as efforts to bring pension funds and insurers together around a common pipeline of vetted opportunities.
Improving clarity and predictability around foreign-exchange and investment-repatriation arrangements was also identified as important in strengthening investor confidence.
UNDP and its partners are expected to refine the recommendations from the forum before selecting a limited number of opportunities for focused follow-up.
The next phase will centre on project preparation, investor engagement, and financing partnerships, with UNDP also expected to use the findings in engagements with international investors and development finance institutions during the United Nations General Assembly.
The initiative is expected to provide a practical bridge between Zimbabwe’s investment opportunities and capital providers, with the ultimate objective of moving selected projects from identification to actual financing.
