The Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) is shifting its focus towards ensuring that investment commitments translate into operating businesses as it develops a new strategy for its next phase, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Ryan Chigoche
This was reviewed by the agency at a stakeholder engagement meeting held in the capital today as part of its strategy review.
The move will see the agency place greater emphasis on the experience of investors after they enter the investment pipeline, with ZIDA consulting investors, government institutions, business organisations and development partners on the practical bottlenecks that can delay projects from moving from approval to implementation.
The review comes as ZIDA continues to record strong investor interest. The agency approved 184 new investment licences in the second quarter of 2026, representing about US$1.59 billion in projected investment, with mining accounting for US$768.5 million and manufacturing for US$496.7 million.
While the figures point to a sizeable pipeline of potential capital, the value attached to approved licences does not necessarily mean the money has already been deployed. The next challenge, therefore, is ensuring that projects progress from approval to construction, production and eventual expansion.
Speaking at the meeting, ZIDA chief executive Tafadzwa Chinamo said this was increasingly how the agency needed to assess its performance.
“Success cannot end with generating investor interest or issuing an investment licence,” Chinamo said.
“The question for the next phase of ZIDA is not only: How much investment can we attract? It must increasingly be: How effectively are we converting investment interest into productive enterprises?”
That shift would broaden ZIDA’s role beyond attracting investors and issuing licences to following the entire investment journey, from initial enquiry and facilitation through establishment, implementation, expansion and reinvestment.
The change is particularly relevant to mining, which accounted for almost half of the projected investment value approved in the second quarter. Large mining developments typically require substantial capital and lengthy development periods before production begins, while financing, infrastructure, regulatory approvals and other requirements can influence the pace at which projects advance.
Infrastructure is one of the wider issues that can determine whether investment commitments become productive assets. Zimbabwe is exploring mineral-backed financing arrangements to support roads and rail development, while the African Development Bank has estimated that the country needs about US$34 billion to modernise its transport and logistics networks.
Against that backdrop, Chinamo said ZIDA could not develop its next strategy in isolation. The agency wants investors and other stakeholders to identify where its processes are working, where they are creating bottlenecks and what interventions are needed to make the investment process more effective.
Not all of those constraints fall within ZIDA’s mandate, he said, meaning the agency would also need to work with other institutions where problems lie elsewhere in the investment ecosystem.
That wider coordination is important because an investment licence is only one stage in bringing a project into operation. For projects requiring land, power, transport infrastructure, financing and multiple regulatory approvals, delays in any part of the process can affect the timing of implementation.
ZIDA therefore wants the consultation to produce more than a list of recommendations. Chinamo said stakeholder input should be translated into clear strategic priorities, practical interventions, institutional responsibilities and measurable commitments.
“We want the next strategy to respond to real investor experiences and practical challenges, rather than simply reflecting our internal assessment of what the Agency should do,” he said.
The agency is also asking stakeholders to identify what ZIDA should continue doing, improve, stop doing or approach differently, as well as new interventions that should form part of the next strategy.
The review comes as ZIDA looks to place more weight on what happens after an investor makes a commitment, including whether projects move ahead and begin operating.
Chinamo said the agency wanted the new strategy to help close the gap between investment commitments and projects on the ground.
