EVEN as we grapple with the devastating COVID-19, we continue to strive and work for the betterment of our country.
We will not be deterred.
Amid the dark and gloom brought by COVID-19, we are glad to hear about the new streamlined Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (ZIDA).
We are happy to hear that ZIDA will superintend and ensure that the provisions provided in the ZIDA Act are realised.
Most importantly, the agency will ensure there is fair and equitable treatment of both domestic and foreign investors.
We are confident in the abilities of the men and women in the agency.
They are accomplished individuals who have a proven track record in their areas of specialty.
Our prayer is that they will be allowed to execute their duties without hindrance so that set targets and objectives are realised in the short-term rather than the long-term.
It is no secret that our economy needs all the support it can get to become fully functional again.
And it is also no secret that in the private sector are billions of dollars ready to be invested in a highly productive environment.
And this money, if our house is in order, we can attract.
Zimbabwe literally has everything required by the world.
We have vast mineral resources, such as platinum and gold, that continue to do well on the world markets.
We have rare earth minerals that are currently in huge demand in many industries.
We have the best climate in the world, despite effects of climate change, and soils that can support a myriad crops badly wanted on the world markets.
We have the largest water body in sub-Saharan Africa, meaning our agro-business need not depend on the rains and can be conducted all year round.
What we ask from the agency is that deals struck must be mutually beneficial.
We do not want to be exploited.
We do not want to be cheated.
We do not want to be shortchanged.
While the picture might currently look gloomy, we are not paupers or beggars.
Members of the agency must always, in the back of their minds, remember that our resources are not infinite.
There is not a time in the future where we will be strong to negotiate, we are already in that position.
We derive our strength and bargaining power from our yet to be fully exploited resources.
Foreigners will not be doing us a favour.
Posterity must not curse us; we will give nothing away for a song.
Returns must be favourable.
Those interested in our minerals must leave behind real development in the communities they will operate in and not just stretches of degraded land.
Land reclamation must be emphasised too.
It is time we get united; in our midst are elements pulling in the opposite direction, specialists in grandstanding, who want nothing but failure and the suffering of the masses just to score cheap political points.
It is the duty of every Zimbabwean to appreciate and value what the country has.
True ownership of resources is rooted in knowledge of that which is owned.
We own Zimbabwe neupfumi hwayo hwose.
We welcome foreign investors who will engage us on our own terms.