Zim's new leader Mnangagwa visits SA to meet potential investors
Harare – Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa is reportedly set to "address a high profile business conference" in Pretoria on Thursday, as his new administration strives "to revitalise the economy through attracting investment".
According to the state-owned Herald newspaper, a statement by Zimbabwe's embassy in South Africa on Tuesday said that all Zimbabwean business people based in South Africa and all those interested in investing in Zimbabwe were invited to the high-level meeting.
"His Excellency, Ambassador Isaac Moyo invites all Zimbabweans in South Africa and all business persons with an interest in investing in Zimbabwe to a business meeting which will be addressed by His Excellency, Cde ED Mnangagwa, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe," read part of the statement.
Mnangagwa's first trip abroad following his inauguration on November 24 came just a few weeks after the country’s finance minister Patrick Chinamasa presented the 2018 budget which included a raft of business- and investor-friendly proposals as well as plans to tackle corruption and waste.
The measures included the partial repeal of a controversial indigenisation law passed under former president Robert Mugabe that had limited foreign ownership of local businesses to 49%.
In his first speech as president of Zimbabwe, Mnangagwa emphasised his and Zanu-PF's new commitment to growing the economy and creating jobs.
"As we focus on recovering our economy, we must shed misbehaviours and acts of indiscipline which have characterised the past. Acts of corruption must stop forthwith," he said.
The Herald quoted him at the time as saying: "The many skilled Zimbabweans who have left the country over the years for a variety of reasons must now come into the broad economic calculus designed for our recovery and take off."
