Business, Careers & Technology
Patrick Musira
A
t a time when the global
frequency of investor summits
in various conference venues
rivals that of literary and
arts festivals, it is important to take a
deep breath and look at the bottom line.
The aftermath of investor summits is
often not pretty, says Clive Vokes, former
European Business Development director
at Ladbrooke International, in Brussels.
Memorandums
of
Understanding
(MoUs) signed between the government
and international corporates in the spirit
of summit bonhomie most often don’t get
translated into actual investment on the
ground – and “Zimbabwe has better start
addressing this challenge of translating
potential into performance and accept
that foreign direct investment (FDIs) just
does not come when you do nothing!”
says Vokes, who is managing director
of Wales-based economic consultancy,
Market Scoping International (MSI.)
A look at FDIs making their way to
various states in the Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC) makes
for an interesting read - “not only for
what it says about investor confidence,
but also for the governance message
being sent out by various states.”
FDI capital is the most skittish and
timid kind of investment that there is,
and the FDI to Southern Africa halved
from US$30 billion in 2008 to US$15bn
in 2011, reflecting decreased investment
in Angola, from US$16,58bn in 2008 to an
estimated US$3.27bn in 2011.
World Bank has some important data
on just where this capital is landing in the
region.
Although uncertainty ahead of
Angola’s presidential elections dampened
some prospects in 2012, its booming oil
industry still held the momentum and
investors still kept interest.
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