Investment group, Imara says its Zimbabwe Fund has grown by $22 million as at October 31, 2011 compared to $8 million at inception in 2007.

 

“Zimbabwe is unique in terms of its infrastructure: in particular a well-developed financial sector including the stock market, pension funds, insurance companies, banks, building societies, asset managers together with all the other ancillary services,” the company said.

 

“Increasingly foreign investors have no choice but to look at Zimbabwe if they wish to focus on sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa which is a growing but lowly-correlated asset class. We also suspect that low liquidity and low valuations go hand in hand as the market is too small for many investors,” Imara said

The company said economic risk remains a major concern for many investors.

“Investing in Zimbabwe as with any investment must justify the risk taken. Certainly, in the direct investment space, investments are being made in Zimbabwe that would suggest rewards definitely justify the risks. Overall, Zimbabwe has a diversified economy, a natural endowment of resources, an educated workforce, a solution to its power problems, the productivity gains of broadband to look forward to, a political road map and the US dollar,” the company said.

The Zimbabwe fund was established in 2007 as a mechanism for International Investors to access Zimbabwe.