I cannot for the life of me imagine why any businessman would want to invest in Zimbabwe.

Look what happened to one such business venture, a Malaysian-Dutch firm Matanuska, which had its banana plantation seized by a retired army general-turned-Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Tanzania.

Perhaps Matanuska thought its interests would be protected by Zimbabwe’s Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (Bippa) with Malaysia. Under this agreement, the firm was reportedly offered land but not title to the land. Or maybe they thought Malaysia enjoyed a special relationship with Zimbabwe! Continue reading »

 

Who says you need not worry about democracy when investing in a country.

You would probably be bananas if you think that your investments would be safe in an undemocratic country.

These can’t be the smartest of Malaysians to invest in a banana firm in Zimbabwe, ruled by the autocratic Mugabe, that good friend of Mahathir’s.

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