An asset management company with offices in *Harare reckons that European investors remain interested in Zimbabwe as an investment destination because of the promise of a relatively rapid turnaround in the economy once the politics return to normal.
John Legat, the Harare-based chief executive of Imara Asset Management, part of the Botswana-registered Imara financial services group, reported on positive feedback from presentations in investment conferences in London and Munich.
Legat said that there was a good deal of discussion about the Imara theory that parallels existed between Brazil in the 1980s and Zimbabwe today.
"Despite the country’s problems, international investors have still made impressive gains in Zimbabwe at a time when returns in many developed markets have been disappointing," Legat said. "One internationally focused fund with a strong stake in Zimbabwean equities last year made gains of 18% in US dollar terms with an 84% gain over three years."
He said Zimbabwe still had a robust and relatively sophisticated equity market - with values at bargain basement levels. Seventy-nine companies are listed on the Zimbabwe stock exchange versus 54 in Kenya.
The Imara presentations also pointed out that a wealth of natural resources and tourist infrastructure offer ready-made building blocks for rapid economic revival, given the necessary policy adjustments.
"Zimbabwe is not being written off," Legat said. "It is being carefully scrutinised by private and institutional investors in major European centres."
*Harare
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