Gideon Gono bounces back

Former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono has been appointed board chairperson for the newly established Special Economic Zones Authority Board announced today.

The much awaited operationalisation of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) is now ready to take off  following the appointment of a board that will oversee the operations  of the initiative.

Mooted in 2016, Special Economic Zones are targeted to  improve investor appetite into the country as it provides  favourable and special incentives towards their investment  providing the perfect conduit and reason for them to set up shop in the country.

Announcing the new board in the capital today, the Minister of Macro-Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Dr  Obert Mpofu outlined the key expectations, among them that the board should prioritise the ease of doing business.

Part of the delays in implementing the Special Economic Zones was due to the absence of a board, which will now be working to establish a secretariat under the Special Economic Zones Authority to decide over all applications.

The newly appointed board chair Dr Gono has already hit the ground running by outlining some of their immediate areas of focus.

The country has identified three areas in Harare, Bulawayo, and Victoria Falls as pilot projects to undertake the Special Economic Zones programme.

Some of the proposed incentives for investors include  exemption from non-resident tax on fees of services that are not locally available, exemption from non-residents tax on  royalties and dividends, as well as tax holiday on capital equipment under the Special Economic Zones.