MONA LISA DUBE
A trade agreement between Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom which guarantees the southern African nation of non-tariff barriers is expected
to be rolled over next year after London officially exited the European Union, an official has said.
After the UK leaves the European Union (EU), the country cannot trade with Zimbabwe or any other African country under the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) — EU Economic Partnership Agreement hence the need to establish separate agreements with different countries UK Department of International Trade Country Director Tom Hill told Business Times
that the agreement will be a replica of the European UnionZimbabwe Trade Agreement.
“The EU-Zimbabwe Trade Agreement will be replicated and rolled out bilaterally between the UK and Zimbabwe from the 1st of January 2021.
As for those targeted embargoes they will be continued and will also be rolled over so there will be no change there but let me also say there has
been a number of examples of Zimbabwean exporters in the UK growing and thriving with their exports in the past few years so this new trade agreement will continue to support that.
The EU recently eased the sanctions against Zimbabwe, lifting travel bans on four individuals including Vice President Constantino Chiwenga
and former First Lady Grace Mugabe who had been on the
list since 2002.
Hill said investors in the UK had raised concerns over delays in Harare in repatriating profits back home.
“One of the issues we are hearing from UK investors looking at Zimbabwe is the difficulties they are facing in repatriating their profits from Zimbabwe to the UK,” Hill said.
“So one of the key changes that will help stimulate further investment is addressing that challenge, how can the government help international
investors put money into the country and give them the confidence that they can bring their profits out.”
Zimbabwe is facing a biting foreign currency crisis which has seen companies struggle to remit dividend to foreign shareholders. Official figures show that UK companies have invested about 2 billion pounds in Zimbabwe over the past 20 years across sectors such as mining, rofessional
services and finance.
