HARARE — China remained Zimbabwe’s undisputed largest investor during the first five months this year, accounting for 74% of the $134 million of the foreign direct investments pouring into the southern African country, the government’s investment promotion agency said on Tuesday.
Chinese businesses invested $81,2 million in the manufacturing sector, and another $16 million in mining between January and May 2013, according to Zimbabwe Investment Authority.
The other top investors to Zimbabwe were Mauritius, investing $11 million in mining and service sectors, and South Africa, injecting $7 million in mining.
Zimbabwe is recovering from the abyss of a decade-old economic meltdown characterised by the hyper-inflation in 2008. After the authorities abolished the worthless Zimbabwe dollar and adopted a wide range of currencies including the US dollar, foreign investments slowly began to trick in.
Last year, Zimbabwe Investment Authority approved $929 million of FDI, among which 72% were from China.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti said last month that uncertainty around the general elections had been holding back the country’s economic growth so far this year. —chinadaily.com.cn
