By Victoria Ruzvidzo

ZIMBABWE’S investment thrust has moved into the overdrive with a crucial meeting of investors from the United Kingdom, the rest of Europe and the United States scheduled for London later this month.

Organisers, Imara Capital, are taking the country’s investment case to London following the success registered at its Harare conference attended by 40 international fund managers.

The investment conference, pencilled for September 24, is said to be already oversubscribed.

Interest in Zimbabwe has grown significantly over the past few months, with the country now anticipated to account for foreign direct investments that come to the region.

Imara and co-hosts Fleming Family & Partners said the response had been so huge that they had decided to limit attendance to one delegate per financial institution or investment fund.

The offshore follow-up indaba is expected to be addressed by Minister of Finance Tendai Biti while other presentations would be made by senior executives from five Zimbabwe corporates — African Consolidated Resources, African Sun, Seed Co, PG Industries and Innscor.

"In the 10 weeks since that watershed seminar, progress has been phenomenally rapid. Dollarisation of the economy meant companies started afresh with zero cash on their balance sheets, but now there is real demand in currency that has real value and business has taken off.

"Economics is not waiting for politics and investors need to see the advantage of early involvement. We’re capping attendance at one representative per investment fund as response has been so positive," said group chief executive Mark Tunmer.

Imara is registered in Botswana but has maintained a presence in Zimbabwe over the years.

In an interview Imara managing director Sean Gammon said Zimbabwe exuded immense potential for growth.

"Growth prospects are presently stronger in Zimbabwe than anywhere else in the world," he said.

Imara was seeking to conjure up more interest on the stock market given the potential resident on the bourse.

"The market has presently been trading sideways. Investors have adopted a wait-and-see attitude over corporate results but many believe there is great opportunity there," said Mr Gammon.

He was upbeat about future prospects on the bourse and the rest of the economy.

The past few months have witnessed a number of investment conferences attended by local and foreign investors.

Mining, tourism, manufacturing and infrastructure development have emerged as some of the best sectors for investment as the country rebuilds the economy, targeted to grow by four percent this year.

Zimbabwe is presently hosting numerous investors seeking to do business here, following a lull in recent years.

The Government has assured investors value for their money as they participate in taking the economy to the next level.

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