AFRICA’S investment landscape is marked by a frustrating disconnect. Despite abundant capital and undeniable opportunity, countless ventures stall before they start. The core issue? Many projects lack the structure and readiness to meet institutional investors' rigorous standards. Enter Investor Hosting Centre (IHC). As a neutral intermediary, the IHC is dedicated to closing this gap by rigorously preparing projects and forging vital connections with financiers. How does this work in practice? Our business reporter Belinda Chiroodza (BC) explores the solution with IHC chairperson Elias Hwenga (EH). Read the interview highlights below:
BC: Can you take us through your work as the Investor Hosting Centre? Why was it established?
EH: The mandate of the Investor Hosting Centre is to act as a trusted private-sector intermediary that bridges the gap between available capital and investable projects in Zimbabwe and across the region. The core problem we were established to solve is not the absence of opportunities, but the absence of credible, investor-ready projects and disciplined platforms capable of originating, preparing, vetting, and presenting those projects to capital providers in a way that meets institutional standards. In Zimbabwe, we consistently see capital sitting on the sidelines, in pension funds, banks, DFIs (development finance institutions), and diaspora networks while projects struggle to reach bankability. IHC was established to solve that mismatch by originating, preparing, vetting, and structuring projects to institutional standards, rather than simply listing opportunities or promoting deals. IHC therefore operates as a controlled gateway between projects and capital, rather than as a deal board or listing platform.
BC: Many African institutions focus on pitching projects. How is the company shifting the conversation from pitching to true project origination and readiness?
EH: We have deliberately shifted upstream. Instead of focusing on pitching, IHC concentrates on project origination, preparation, and filtering. In Zimbabwe, pitching has often meant presenting ideas without adequate financial, legal, or governance preparation. Our work happens before investors enter the room. Projects are assessed against defined bankability criteria, governance standards, and investor expectations. By the time an opportunity is introduced to capital, it has already been structured to withstand scrutiny. That shift significantly improves outcomes for both project sponsors and investors.
BC: You are focusing on a regional scale rather than being country-specific. How do you work across borders, and what corridors matter most for capital today?
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EH: We work regionally by partnering with institutions rather than pursuing isolated projects country by country. Capital does not move according to political boundaries; it follows economic corridors, value chains, and investor mandates. We are, therefore, prioritising cross-border partnerships. This allows us to curate pipelines that make sense to capital operating across multiple jurisdictions.
BC: From your interactions with investors, what do they look for before they even consider a project in Africa?
EH: Investors look first for clarity and discipline: clear ownership, realistic financials, legal and regulatory compliance, a defined use of funds, and credible risk mitigation. Investors engaging with Zimbabwe consistently look for clarity around land tenure, regulatory approvals, revenue certainty, and sponsor capability, and, of course, the issue around repatriation, which is a policy issue.
BC: Where do most projects fall short?
EH: You will notice that most projects fall short not because the opportunity is weak, but because governance is unclear, assumptions are optimistic, or risks are poorly articulated. Investors do not expect zero risk; they expect understood and managed risk.
BC: Investors often say Africa isn’t short of opportunities but of transaction efficiency. Where exactly does IHC reduce friction in the deal process?
EH: Investors often face repeated delays caused by incomplete documentation, inconsistent financials, or unclear decision-making authority. We reduce friction by filtering early and standardising engagement. Weak or speculative opportunities are screened out before they reach investors. For viable projects, documentation, structure, and compliance issues are addressed upfront. This shortens diligence timelines, reduces repetition, and allows investors to focus on decision-making rather than basic verification.
BC: How does IHC help crowd in private capital alongside DFIs without becoming a fund manager itself?
EH: Our role is facilitative, not balance-sheet-driven. We prepare and position projects to a standard that DFIs are comfortable anchoring, which in turn creates confidence for private capital to follow. We do not manage funds or deploy capital ourselves. Instead, we structure credible transaction pathways where different types of capital can participate alongside one another within clearly defined frameworks. Zimbabwe provides a good example. DFIs are often willing to anchor projects in energy, infrastructure, or agriculture, but private capital hesitates without structure. IHC prepares projects to DFI standards — which then reassures banks, pension funds, and family offices that the opportunity has been rigorously vetted. We facilitate alignment, but we do not deploy capital or manage funds ourselves.
BC: Do you see your role more as promoting projects or filtering them — and why does that distinction matter to investors?
EH: We are not an investment promotion entity. Filtering is central to our core. Investors value discipline far more than volume. Promotion without filtering creates noise and erodes trust. By applying strict acceptance criteria and being willing to decline projects, we protect investor confidence and preserve the credibility of the pipeline. That discipline is what serious capital responds to. In a market such as Zimbabwe, where investor trust has been tested, filtering becomes more essential.
BC: Frontier markets often suffer from perception risk. How does IHC separate real project risk from misunderstood country risk for investors?
EH: We separate risk by grounding projects in fundamentals. Country risk provides context, but project risk is specific and manageable. By strengthening governance, legal compliance, commercial logic, and risk mitigation at the project level, we allow investors to assess opportunities on their own merits rather than relying on broad assumptions about a jurisdiction.
Zimbabwe is often viewed through a broad risk lens, but not all projects carry the same level of exposure. IHC separates perception from reality by focusing on project-level fundamentals. For instance, a solar project with clear tariffs, licences, and a credible sponsor presents a very different risk profile from a speculative concept, even within the same country context.
BC: What are the biggest gaps you see between African project sponsors and global capital providers, and how does IHC bridge that gap?
EH: The biggest gap is expectation alignment. Project sponsors often think in terms of ideas and potential, while capital thinks in terms of structure, risk, and returns. IHC bridges that gap by translating local opportunity into institutional investment language and by guiding sponsors on what capital actually requires to engage seriously.
BC: In five years, what metrics would tell you that IHC has genuinely become a continental capital access and project origination hub?
EH: Success would be evident if projects from Zimbabwe and the region consistently reach financial closure. This means that success would be measured by outcomes rather than visibility: the volume of capital mobilised, repeat participation by investors, and sustained institutional partnerships across borders. Those outcomes would demonstrate trust, relevance, and durability. If capital continues to return to the platform and pipelines remain active across regions, that would be a clear signal of credibility and relevance. Our goal is to be recognised as a credible regional gateway for deal flow.