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Bulawayo Bureau

AN assortment of British firms are keen to tap into diverse business opportunities in Zimbabwe and have pitched investments worth over US$5 billion in the energy sector alone, while others have expressed interest in other key sectors of the economy.

Britain is warming up to doing normal business in Zimbabwe under the Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa, which has been reaching out to all countries in line with its economic diplomacy-focused engagement and re-engagement policy.

Last week President Mnangagwa visited the United Kingdom for the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, breaking the 23-year-old diplomatic stand-off between Harare and London, which saw the latter imposing crippling sanctions on the country.

The President and his delegation used the opportunity to engage with a wide section of British potential investors and impressed upon them that “Zimbabwe is Open for Business”.

Investors were drawn from diverse sectors such as mining, agriculture, telecommunication, tourism, aviation, financial technology and healthcare, manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.

The engagements with the British investors further cemented the Government’s engagement and re-engagement thrust as investors expressed keen interest in investing in Zimbabwe.

Hardly a week later, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister, Dr Frederick Shava, told Cabinet on Tuesday that British-based Private Infrastructure Development Group has pitched a US$5 billion solar energy project. 

Added to the energy front, Better Energy Company, also a British company, is interested in investing in a massive 1 000MW solar energy project.

In a post-Cabinet media briefing in Harare, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa said during last week’s visit, and as part of the Second Republic’s mantra that Zimbabwe is Open for Business, President Mnangagwa also met with business leaders, including the chairperson of the Westminster Africa Group.

She said among the companies represented were Newbridge Resources, Clear Mobitel, the Financial Markets Indaba, Better Energy Company, and the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG).

“Newbridge Resources expressed interest in a remote sensing project, through which collection of information about the Earth can be done from a distance,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

“Clear Mobitel wishes to invest in technology in the areas of financial technology (FinTech), health and education, as well as connecting a 5G network across the country.

“The Financial Markets Indaba facilitates trade and investment missions in Zimbabwe and around the world for investors interested in Africa.

“Better Energy Company is interested in investing in a massive 1 000 MW solar energy project. It also has interests in the construction of housing and conference centres, mining, and infrastructure. 

“Private Infrastructure Development Group has set aside US$5 billion for a solar project and intends to enter into a solar project contract with the Ministry of Energy and Power Development,” said the minister.

According to the PIDG website, the firm is an innovative infrastructure project developer and investor, which mobilises private investment in sustainable and inclusive infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa and south and south-east Asia.

Its focus to date has largely been on the energy sector preferring renewables where they make sense from a cost and grid perspective.

It notes that with one in seven people globally lacking access to electricity, and as the demand continues to rise, there needs to be a substantial increase in the production of renewable energy across the world.

As such, power will remain an important part of the PIDG portfolio, as it is a powerful enabler of infrastructure development and impact.

“We aim to provide affordable power, while always evaluating the potential climate impact, to increase supply in the most challenged countries, while contributing towards SDG 7, ‘affordable and clean energy’,” it wrote.

Detailing its sector focus areas, PIDG said investments in power include the generation, supply, transmission and or distribution of electricity, with a focus on all forms of renewable energy, including off-grid and mini-grid technologies.

It also focuses on water, sewage and sanitation, transportation: digital communications infrastructure and also gas transportation, distribution and storage and Special Economic Zones, an integrated infrastructure development with objectives such as industrial development, trade support and revitalisation.

In the past few years, demand for electricity has been on an upward trend outstrips current power generation capacity largely driven by growth across all sectors of the economy, mainly mining, agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructural development.

Zimbabwe is turning to solar energy generation projects to supplement limited electricity supplies and is aimed at attracting investors into its energy infrastructure.

The Government introduced energy policies that effectively set the tone for the development and sustainable exploitation of renewable energy.

The main objectives of the policies are to forge stronger relationships, partner with renewable energy companies as well as to present the roadmap for strategies.