AFRICA'S richest man, Aliko Dangote, rolled into the country last week in search of investment opportunities.
The result: deals worth US$1 billion covering cement, energy and pipeline, representing the billionaire industrialist’s desire to expand his footprint to Zimbabwe.
This is the second time in 10 years that Dangote has visited the country as he seeks to expand into the region.
In 2015, the businessman came to Zimbabwe, where he intended to invest US$1 billion.
Nothing materialised from that high-profile visit amid claims that authorities demanded bribes to oil the wheels of bureaucracy.
Neither party has revealed why talks collapsed in the first place nor the mechanisms put in place to ensure that history does not repeat itself.
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The latest Dangote deal, if it sails through, represents the biggest deal the second republic will have consummated.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration has been getting the flak for announcing mega deals that remained on paper.
It has announced mega deals worth over US$15 billion in seven years, which have not been actualised.
As the country toasts to a second chance to get it right, we should pause and reflect on what Nigeria has done, which has seen its companies conquering Africa.
Nigeria has created a private sector that is making forays into the continent.
At the launch of former Nigerian President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida’s book early this year, Dangote praised the former military ruler for creating the private sector in the West African country.
According to Dangote, Babangida gave import permit licences to locals. Initially, the locals were getting licences through Indians. He said locals were given oil blocks and issued banking licences.
This, according to Dangote, has created one of the strongest private sectors on the continent. Nigerian companies, such as Dangote Group and United Bank for Africa, have made forays into western, central, eastern and southern Africa.
When the private sector speaks, the Nigerian government listens.
Have we sat down to hear the concerns of the private sector? If the sector makes submissions to monetary and fiscal policies, are they taken on board?
Have we created an interface or platform where government ministries engage the private sector?
These are key questions that define the state of the private sector.
They are not regime change merchants when they sell above the stipulated exchange rate. They must survive. They have no other home except Zimbabwe.
While foreign investors get tax exemptions, local investors pick up the bill, yet they are supposed to compete with the same players.
Local companies need scaffolding to be able to establish and build the necessary muscle to compete with foreign players and expand operations.
Where multinationals close shop and look for greener pastures elsewhere, local firms have held fort.
There is a need to support local players to build capacity and be able to compete.
The coming in of the African Continental Free Trade Area must jolt the government into action.
The world’s biggest trading bloc by member of countries will create a market of over 1,4 billion.
There is a danger that Zimbabwe will become a dumping ground as local companies struggle to compete.
The reforms underway to review licences and fees will go a long way in reducing the cost of doing business, which allows firms to channel resources to expansion.
Local players need support to grow their bases.