Former England striker, Emile Heskey, is planning to invest in Zimbabwe’s energy sector.
Heskey, who is a senior vice-president of Genoil, a Canadian company with interests in oil technology development, believes there are diverse areas of investment in Zimbabwe’s ailing economy.
The 41-year-old, who played for England 62 times – scoring seven goals, took up his role with the Canadian firm last year.
“ A friend of mine introduced me to Zimbabwe and I took a keen interest in business interests over there. We looked at the energy sector and that interested me. I have got business partners and people interested in the energy sector who fund things in the energy sector,” he is quoted by BBC as saying.
Zimbabwe is in the throes of a deep energy crisis with rolling powers cuts and an acute shortage of fuel.
The former Premier League striker, who comes from a family of Antiguan descent, said he fell in love with Zimbabwe after making his first trip to the continent some three years ago.
“There are diverse things you can do over there. You have one of the Seven Wonders of the World with the Victoria Falls. We don’t have that in the Caribbean. We definitely don’t have that in England. Having things like that, where people can come and travel and be at one with nature is amazing,” he said, adding: “If you take notice of the media you won’t go anywhere near countries in Africa.”
Since his first visit, the former Liverpool striker says he would like to explore and learn more about the continent.
“Coming from the Caribbean, we are fundamentally African people in a different part of the world,” he noted, adding: “I was in Uganda walking around a shopping mall and people were staring at me and shaking their heads saying, ‘No it’s not him’ – and walking on because they couldn’t believe I could be in that part of the world.”
Asked if a career in business was something he thought about when he was still playing football, he replied: “With football, especially at the elite level, you are so immersed in football, you don’t really have too much time. It’s only when you are coming to the end of your career that you look at what you can dwell on.”
