News

The Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC), led by our Deputy Chair Lord Swire, paid a courtesy visit to the official residence of His Excellency Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi, President of Zanzibar and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council. Lord Swire was accompanied by Group Director of Equity Group, A Q Hamza, CEO of E-W Information Systems Limited (EWIS), Sanjeewa Wickramanayake, and Advisor to the Government of Zanzibar, Mehboob Champsi. The meeting reconfirmed both Zanzibar’s ambitions to attract high-impact investment and CWEIC’s readiness to support and channel sustainable capital to the islands. The Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority joined CWEIC as a Strategic Partner in April, following the Commonwealth Trade and Investment Summit.

President Mwinyi underscored that the “Blue Economy” and Tourism remain the cornerstone of Zanzibar’s development strategy. He emphasised that these sectors collectively contribute nearly 30 per cent of Zanzibar’s GDP, emphasising their macroeconomic importance. He drew attention to a number of concrete and high-potential investment opportunities, including in the planned Mangapwani Integrated Port, which is envisaged not only as a maritime and trade hub but also as a catalyst for growth in transportation, oil & gas, and broader trade infrastructure.

The President described the CWEIC delegation’s visit as “an important opportunity” to align Zanzibar’s ambition with international investors, signalling openness, enabling policy frameworks, and demand for transformative projects across tourism, logistics, maritime and energy-related sectors.

Lord Swire reaffirmed CWEIC’s strong commitment to supporting Zanzibar’s economic ambitions. He described Zanzibar as “an important partner” and emphasised that CWEIC stands ready to collaborate with the government in multiple areas — trade, investment facilitation, and structuring sustainable public-private partnerships aimed at delivering tangible development impact for the people of Zanzibar.

This visit underscores CWEIC’s strategic role in unlocking blue-economy and tourism opportunities and further strengthens our network within the Commonwealth investment space, especially for frontier economies like Zanzibar that offer high growth potential.