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'Zimbabweans prefer foreign investment instead of indigenisation'

by Staff reporter
19 Mar 2015 at 07:13hrs | Views
Zimbabweans prefer foreign direct investment (FDI) to indigenisation for employment creation, a new survey by the Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) has revealed.

According to the survey, an overwhelming 72% of respondents subscribes to the sentiment that FDI was the way to go in terms of rejuvenating the economy.

"Zimbabweans have over the past two years maintained their preference for encouraging job creation through foreign investment rather than the indigenisation of the economy by taking over foreign-owned companies, despite the preference having dropped by six percentage points from 78% in 2012 to 72% in 2014," revealed the survey.

These results come in at a time when the Zimbabwean economy is experiencing a downward spiral, with an estimated unemployment rate of over 80% and there is consensus among political parties and the civil society on the need to stop the free fall of the country's economy and empowering the citizens of Zimbabwe.

However, the report said, there was no policy consensus regarding the methods of achieving these goals. There are two contrasting viewpoints that dominate the debate on empowerment in Zimbabwe.

The first school of thought (indigenisation) is popularised by Zanu-PF while the second paradigm, that of encouraging foreign investment, is mainly popular with the opposition parties, particularly the MDC-T, said the report.

The survey also showed that support for FDI is high among both male and female respondents as there was only a three percentage point difference between the males (73%) and the females (70%) who prefer foreign investment to Indigenisation.

Source - newsday