Zimbabwe's President Wants To Create New Fiscal Policies To Promote Investment In Country

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st June, 2019) Zimbabwean President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa said Friday that he spoke at an annual mining conference about implementing strong fiscal policies to create a "win-win" investment environment in the country in the wake of the African Union implementing a free trade area agreement.

On Thursday, the African Union (AU) announced the launch of the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), since Gambia became the 22nd country to ratify the agreement in April, thereby meeting the minimum requirement for the free trade zone to come into force. Zimbabwe ratified the agreement in March and was the 15th country to do so.

"Today at the Chamber of Mines Annual Conference, I discussed the need for strong fiscal & monetary policy frameworks, to get in line with international best practices & to create a win-win investment environment.

Zimbabwe must be closed for looting, and open for business!" Mnangagwa tweeted.

AfCFTA was signed by 44 out of 55 African countries when it was launched in Rwanda's capital, Kigali, in March 2018. Although most countries have now signed the agreement, Nigeria, one of Africa's leading economies, along with Benin and Eritrea, has refrained from signing it for unspecified reasons.

The free trade agreement aims to create a tariff-free African continent that can help boost intra-African trade and local businesses as well as spur industrialization and job growth.