The failure to implement a computer system integrating all government departments has stalled efforts to set up the one-stop-shop (OSS) investment centre.
Seventeen months after the initiative was launched in 2010, the government was yet to bring together all departments dealing with investment.
OSS was launched as part of a raft of measures aimed at re-profiling the country’s business competitiveness and offloading several bureaucratic burdens from potential investors previously exposed to protracted and disjointed regulatory approvals.
When functional, the one-stop investment facility should bring key regulatory authorities under one roof, namely the Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA), the Registrar of Companies, the Deeds Office, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Mines ministry, the Environmental Management Agency, the Immigration Control Department, Local Government and Zesa, among others.
Economic Planning and Investment Promotion minister Tapiwa Mashakada, however, told NewsDay early this week that the OSS managed to reduce the approval period from 49 days to five days.
“The OSS has not succeeded in enforcing the deployment of officers from various government departments at the centre, as the software is not in place to link the departments,” he said.
“Investors still have to go to the respective ministries to get documents, as they are not linked.” He said e-government was still to be installed, which will cover all government departments.
Foreign direct investment for the country in 2011 stood at $387 million with the mining sector accounting for nearly half of the $247 million approved investments recorded during the first six months of the year.
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Statistics from ZIA showed that China, Mauritius, South Africa and Australia were some of the major countries eyeing investment opportunities in the mining sector.
Experts, however, said despite keen interest, the country’s policies continued to scare away investment, which at its peak accounted for 20% of the gross domestic product.
