Finance minister Tendai Biti says Zimbabwe could achieve an ambitious $400 billion economy by 2040 should the country craft a pro-business economic vision.
The current size of the economy according to the economic planning ministry is $10,5 billion.
Speaking at the Zimbabwe Independent Quoted Companies Survey on Thursday, Biti said the country’s economy could grow within the next three decades on the back of numerous opportunities that have arisen for frontier markets. He said there was need for the government to move away from politicking and put national interests first.
“As a country we have got amazing opportunities. I sit in the kitchen at the Ministry of Finance. We can build not a $100 billion economy as Kennias Mafukidze (of KM Financial Solutions) says, but a $400 billion economy,” said Biti.
“But the missing ingredient is the cerebral component, the strategic component, the capacity to say let’s put the interests of Zimbabweans first and let’s build this country. The biggest frontier that we actually need to deal with is the political frontier. We need to redefine that and redesign that, so that we move away from primitive politics.”
In February last year KM Financial Solutions chief executive officer Mafukidze told business leaders attending a chief executive officers roundtable organised by KM Financial Solutions, a local financial advisory firm, that Zimbabwe could achieve a $100 billion economy by 2040 anchored by the government and public support.
Guest of honour at the event, Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) chief executive Nicky Newton-King, told business leaders that more reforms were required at the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) in order to grow the bourse.
The JSE, according to Newton-King, was currently trading R11 billion worth of shares daily and about 30-40% of that was foreign.
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She said there was a need to invest in technology and to put in place a highly regulated market and highly skilled staff.
“Everyday we are competing for that share of foreign investment with other destinations. Yes, we are in the top 20 exchanges but it has taken us 16 years of re-doing everything we are doing in order to make that happen,” she said.
“If we put the right management approaches, standards in place, African exchanges will attract international investment in due course.”
Head of the judges during the survey, Ranganayi Makwata, said there was need for mining companies like platinum giant Zimplats and Mimosa to list on the ZSE in order to grow the exchange.
Aggregate revenue exchange in 2011 grew by 41% from $3,563 billion to $5,03 billion while profits grew 46% from $246 million to $358 million. The aggregate balance sheet for the ZSE increased by 30% from $6,2 to $8,1 billion .
