Ryan Chigoche
HARARE – The Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) has launched its electronic do-it-yourself (DIY) licensing portal, an efficient tool that would make it easier for investors to do business by reducing the number of days required to obtain an investor license.
The innovation is the latest move by ZIDA on its digitization drive, which they embarked on just a few years ago as they effectively moved away from the time consuming paper based system.
Zimbabwe has seen a steady increase in domestic and foreign direct investments over the years with most of the investments being licensed by ZIDA spanning from different sectors of the economy.
Speaking at the event ZIDA Board Chairperson Busisa Moyo said the innovation makes Zimbabwe a world beater in terms of investment.
”This groundbreaking initiative shows ZIDA’s management commitment in enhancing the ease of doing business in the country. As chairman of the board im immensely proud of this innovative tool which presents a pivotal shift towards modernization and efficiency position the country as a competitive player on the global investment landscape.” Moyo said.
The digitalisation of the ZIDA licensing sytem marked a critical milestone in the agency from manual systems in 2020 to digital platforms which enhance effeciency. The first step on this drive was the removal of the paper system in registration processes in 2022 automating the whole process.
Before the agency embarked on its digitization drive the time required for a license to be issued was 30 days. However through the drive the agency reduced the number of license processing days to just 7.
As evidence of success of the digitization drive ,in Q4 2023 the agency recorded significant progress through increased enquiries and follow-up spurred by the Mining Matchmaking Platform launched last year , which gave ZIDA impetus to launch the second phase
of the matchmaking platform initiative.
of the matchmaking platform initiative.
While the Q4 numbers saw a drop in the number of licenses the Agency issued in the 4th quarter compared to the 3rd quarter ,projected investment value grew by 232.85% quarter on quarter with 76% of this amount attributable to the mining sector despite the decline.
However there is still massive potential still waiting to be unlocked on the ease of doing business the and the launch of the portal can be seen as significant step towards realising the potential by creating a faster and much easier route for an investor.
According to Never Nyemudzo, the ZIDA COO the electronic DIY portal will see licenses being processed in under 4 days.
