Zimbabwe as an Investment Destination: 5 Sectors Gulf Investors Are Watching in 2026

The Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe — a largely undiscovered tourism investment destination with significant development potential.

For years, the conversation about African investment in the Gulf has moved in one direction — African businesses seeking capital, buyers, and market access in the UAE. But a quieter, equally significant conversation is beginning to move the other way. Gulf investors are looking at Africa, and increasingly, they are looking at Zimbabwe.

This is not sentiment. It is a shift backed by real mandates, real capital, and real conversations happening right now.

At Afrigate Commercial Brokers, we sit at the intersection of these two worlds. What follows is not a theoretical overview — it is a practitioner's account of where the opportunities are, and why 2026 may be the right moment to act on them.

1. Tourism and Hospitality

Zimbabwe has been named a top travel destination for 2025 by both Forbes Australia and Kayak — recognition built on its extraordinary natural assets. Victoria Falls, one of the seven wonders of the world. The Eastern Highlands. Lake Kariba, the largest manmade lake on the African continent. A safari ecosystem that competes with the best on the continent.

Yet the infrastructure has not kept pace with the interest. Zimbabwe has a significant shortage of hotel rooms, particularly in the resort areas of Victoria Falls and Kariba, where designated land is available for development. The investment models are flexible — build, own and operate, or build and transfer. For Gulf investors already experienced in hospitality development, this is a familiar playbook in an unfamiliar market.

One opportunity worth particular attention: Zimbabwe does not yet have a single Halal-certified resort or hotel. For an investor with access to the GCC market and an understanding of what that audience values, the gap is obvious.

2. Real Estate and Infrastructure

Zimbabwe's real estate sector is in the middle of a quiet boom. The growth of gated communities and townhouse developments — particularly in Harare — has reshaped entire neighbourhoods. With the banking sector still carrying trust deficits from the hyperinflation era, property has become the savings vehicle of choice for the Zimbabwean middle class.

The opportunity for Gulf investors sits at two levels. The first is direct development — residential and mixed-use projects with strong demand and proven absorption rates. The second is infrastructure financing — roads, water reticulation, renewable energy — around existing developments, with repayment structured against proceeds from property sales.

For investors looking for exposure to African real estate without the complexity of navigating multiple regulatory environments, Zimbabwe's framework — and its growing professional class — makes it one of the more accessible entry points on the continent.

3. Agriculture and Agri-Processing

Zimbabwe is on a credible path back to its historical position as southern Africa's agricultural heartland. What makes it particularly interesting from a Gulf perspective is the seasonal window: when Zimbabwe's blueberries, citrus fruits, and avocados are in season, equivalent producers across East and West Africa are out of season. The supply gap into the UAE and broader GCC is structural, not incidental.

The investment opportunities here range from taking positions within Agro-Industrial Zones — government-designated blocks with preferential regulatory treatment — to financing the cold chain and logistics infrastructure that Zimbabwean farmers urgently need. Post-harvest losses of up to 50% are not a sign of poor farming — they are a sign of a logistics gap that capital can close.

For Gulf investors focused on food security — a strategic priority across the GCC — Zimbabwe's agricultural sector offers both returns and purpose.

5. Mining

Zimbabwe holds reserves of gold, diamonds, platinum, and lithium — the last of which has become strategically significant in the context of global battery supply chains. The investment entry points are varied: trading partnerships post-exploration, direct acquisition of mining rights, or structured finance into existing operations.

For investors seeking commodity exposure with African upside, Zimbabwe's mineral endowment is difficult to overlook. The regulatory environment requires careful navigation — value addition requirements mean that raw extraction alone is no longer the full story — but for investors with the right partners on the ground, this is exactly where the value sits.

5. Financial Services

Perhaps the least obvious but most structurally significant opportunity on this list. With Standard Chartered Bank's exit from Zimbabwe in 2023, the country no longer has a single international bank operating within its borders. Zimbabwe's international banking landscape has undergone significant structural change in recent years. Standard Chartered Bank exited the country in 2023, while Barclays Bank — once a cornerstone of the Zimbabwean financial system — was sold and rebranded as First Capital Bank. The country no longer has a single international bank operating within its borders, yet trade demand continues to grow.

At the same time, trade flows between Zimbabwe and the MENA region are growing.

The opportunity to bring a Gulf financial institution into Zimbabwe — whether through acquisition, partnership, or a greenfield operation focused on trade finance — is real, timely, and largely unexplored. For an institution looking to establish a first-mover position in a market with growing bilateral trade, the window is open.

Liquidity provision to existing Zimbabwean banks — at rates of 10 to 12% per annum for onward lending — also offers a lower-complexity entry point with predictable returns and a clear repayment structure.

The Common Thread

Across all five sectors, the pattern is the same: genuine opportunity, meaningful gap between what exists and what is needed, and a growing corridor of capital and trade between Zimbabwe and the Gulf that is beginning to formalise.

Afrigate Commercial Brokers exists to bridge that gap — with due diligence, local knowledge, regulatory navigation, and the kind of ground-level insight that only comes from being present in both markets. The trade data reinforces what on-the-ground conversations already suggest. The UAE has been Zimbabwe's largest export destination for consecutive years — a bilateral relationship that is no longer emerging, but established. What is still missing is the infrastructure, the advisory capability, and the capital to scale it.

If you are a Gulf investor with an appetite for African exposure, the conversation starts with understanding what is actually there. We are happy to be that starting point.

---

Interested in exploring investment opportunities in Zimbabwe or the broader Africa-Gulf corridor? Book a free 30-minute consultation with Afrigate Commercial Brokers at afrig8.com/book-a-consultation