Public-private collaboration: The missing link in Zimbabwe’s investment story

MELODY CHIKONO

 

Zimbabwe is frequently described as a country brimming with investment potential.

 

The nation is endowed with vast mineral wealth, fertile agricultural land, a strategic geographic location, a skilled workforce, and expanding opportunities across renewable energy, tourism, manufacturing and infrastructure.

 

Hardly a week passes without a new investment opportunity being unveiled by a local authority, government agency or private sector developer. Yet while investment prospects abound, translating those opportunities into bankable, commercially viable projects remains one of Zimbabwe’s greatest challenges.

 

Yet despite this abundance, one question continues to confront us: Why are so many opportunities failing to become investments?

 

This question became even more relevant following the recent second annual South Africa,Zimbabwe Business Expo 2026 and Investment Summit organised by the Zimbabweans in Diaspora Organisation (ZIDO), where several Zimbabwean local authorities candidly acknowledged that while they had numerous investment opportunities, project preparation remained one of their greatest challenges.

 

I believe that admission is one of the most important conversations Zimbabwe has had about investment in recent years.

 

For too long, our national discussion has focused almost exclusively on attracting investors.

 

We organise conferences, develop investment profiles, market opportunities, and introduce policy reforms designed to improve the ease of doing business.

 

These are all necessary initiatives, and institutions such as the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) continue to play a vital role in positioning Zimbabwe as an attractive investment destination.

 

However, investment promotion is only the beginning of the investment journey.

 

Between identifying an opportunity and securing an investor lies a complex process that is often underestimated.

 

It involves technical studies, commercial assessments, financial modelling, legal due diligence, environmental compliance, governance structures, and transaction advisory.

 

Without these building blocks, even the most promising projects struggle to secure funding.

 

This is what investors refer to as bankability.

 

In my experience, investors rarely say Zimbabwe lacks opportunities.

 

More often, they ask whether projects have been properly prepared, whether risks have been identified and mitigated, and whether documentation meets international investment standards.

 

These are legitimate questions.

 

Institutional investors, pension funds, development finance institutions, and private equity firms have a fiduciary responsibility to protect the capital entrusted to them.

 

They cannot invest solely because an opportunity appears attractive. They require confidence that every aspect of the project has been carefully examined and professionally structured.

 

That is why project preparation is not an administrative exercise. It is an investment in confidence.

 

Importantly, this is where many emerging markets either accelerate or stall their investment pipelines. The difference is rarely in opportunity availability, but in execution readiness.

 

Fortunately, Zimbabwe is not starting from scratch.

 

Our public institutions have made significant progress in strengthening the investment environment. Regulatory reforms have improved the ease of doing business, while ZIDA has streamlined investment approvals and continues to promote Zimbabwe to domestic and international investors.

 

Local authorities have also become increasingly proactive in identifying opportunities that can stimulate local economic development.

 

The next step is ensuring that these efforts are complemented by strong private-sector participation.

 

Around the world, successful investment destinations are built on collaboration rather than isolated institutions.

 

In Rwanda, for example, government institutions work alongside private advisory firms, development finance institutions, and project preparation specialists to ensure opportunities are presented to investors in a credible and investment-ready form.

 

This collaborative approach has helped build investor confidence and contributed to the country’s reputation as one of Africa’s most attractive investment destinations.

 

South Africa offers another example. While government agencies promote investment and facilitate approvals, a mature ecosystem of investment banks, legal advisors, engineering consultants, and transaction specialists works behind the scenes to prepare projects and guide them to financial close.

 

The lesson is clear.

 

Government cannot prepare every project.

 

The private sector cannot replace government.

 

Neither can achieve sustainable investment outcomes independently.

 

Each has a distinct but complementary role.

 

Government establishes policy certainty, regulatory oversight, and investor protection. Local authorities identify investment opportunities within their communities.

 

Financial institutions provide capital. Project developers generate ideas. Private investment intermediaries structure opportunities, coordinate technical expertise, undertake due diligence, and connect projects with suitable investors.

 

When these participants operate as an ecosystem rather than in isolation, investment conversion improves significantly.

 

This ecosystem approach also reduces friction in the investment pipeline. It shortens the time between concept and funding, improves investor confidence, and increases the likelihood that projects will reach financial close.

 

This collaborative approach is particularly important for Zimbabwe’s local authorities.

 

Across the country, councils possess land, infrastructure opportunities, tourism assets, and natural resources capable of transforming local economies.

 

Yet many struggle to package these opportunities into investment-ready propositions.

 

As a result, worthwhile projects often remain dormant, not because they lack potential, but because they lack preparation.

 

If local authorities can partner more closely with investment intermediaries, universities, engineers, legal experts, financial advisers, and development finance institutions, they will substantially improve the quality of projects presented to investors.

 

Equally important, this approach builds institutional memory and capacity within local systems, ensuring that future projects are better structured from the outset rather than corrected later in the process.

 

The benefits would extend far beyond attracting foreign direct investment.

 

Well-prepared projects are also more likely to secure financing from domestic pension funds, commercial banks, insurance companies, and institutional investors looking for commercially viable opportunities within Zimbabwe.

 

This is particularly important given the growing need to mobilise local capital for development.

 

Domestic institutions are often more stable, more patient, and better aligned with long-term national development priorities than external capital flows.

 

Ultimately, investment is not a competition between the public and private sectors.

 

It is a partnership.

 

The most successful economies understand that investment is a process requiring collaboration at every stage,from project identification and preparation to financing, implementation, and aftercare.

 

Zimbabwe has already demonstrated that it possesses the opportunities.

 

The challenge before us is converting those opportunities into completed investments.

 

That will require a shift in thinking.

 

Rather than asking who should attract investors, we should ask how every institution can contribute to preparing projects that investors are willing to finance.

 

If we succeed in building stronger partnerships between government, local authorities, financial institutions, and private investment facilitators, Zimbabwe will not only attract more investment, it will significantly increase its ability to convert investor interest into factories, roads, renewable energy plants, agro-processing facilities, tourism developments, and thousands of sustainable jobs.

 

In the end, economic transformation is not driven by opportunities alone.

 

It is driven by our collective ability to turn those opportunities into reality.

 

Chikono is an Investment Solutions Executive at Investor Hosting Centre (IHC), where she works with investors, project developers and strategic partners to structure investment-ready opportunities across key sectors of Africa’s economies. She can be reached at melody@invetsorhosting.com