Robert Mugabe loves to blame hated colonialists for Zimbabwe’s plight, but his ruinous economic policies are likely to hand a new breed of modern-day City imperialists the opportunities of a lifetime. The resource-rich country is awash with untapped reserves of gold, platinum, diamonds, copper and a host of lesser minerals. Its game parks and wildlife offer undreamt of opportunities in tourism, especially with the 2010 football World Cup in neighbouring South Africa.

All are now available at bargain basement prices.

“This is the sale of the century. There are incredible bargains to be had,” David Coltart, a leading member of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), now a Senator, told The Times.

He said that while international donors hesitated to see how the power-sharing deal worked, private sector finance was the key to jump-starting a broken economy. “My view is that the mining and resource sector has the potential to turn this round very quickly. There are some amazing opportunities around,” he added.

With world commodity prices high despite the credit crunch, due mainly to demand from China and India, international mining houses, many based in London, have been itching to clinch deals in Zimbabwe. Many were held back by political worries, such as the threat by Mr Mugabe to take a 51 per cent share in all foreign companies, and bad publicity arising from doing business with his regime.

“The 51 per cent threat will go straight out of the window. This is an internationally endorsed deal. So long as the MDC has the key economic ministries, such as mining, the private sector will be here. We are about to see a new ‘Scramble for Africa’,” one local economist said. “Cecil Rhodes will be turning in his grave.”

Rhodesia, the forerunner to Zimbabwe, was named after Cecil Rhodes, the 19th-century British imperialist who exploited southern Africa to amass a personal fortune.

Despite years of misrule, Zimbabwe still has an infrastructure far superior to many of its neighbours – such as the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo – and a highly educated workforce.

The pickings are huge. The Ngezi platinum mine owned by the South African company Impala Platinum, 110 miles (175km) southwest of Harare, could bring in an estimated $1 billion a year if it was operated at full capacity.

Before Mr Mugabe ruined agriculture with his forced seizure of white farms, tobacco – the main cash crop of the country – brought in $600 million (£340 million) a year.

Western companies have watched with alarm as China moved into Zimbabwe and took over some productive concessions. Beijing was careful not to take an ideological position and financed Zanu (PF) and the MDC.

Zimbabwe’s riches are one of the reasons why Mr Mugabe has been able to cling to power for so long. His army generals have feasted on the Marange diamond fields, one of the richest but largely unexploited diamond seams in the world, through their control of the Zimbabwe Mining and Development Company. The company may now be broken up or at least run correctly.

The rest of the nation – unable to profit from the untapped Zimbabwe wealth – until now had to adapt as best it could to living in the ruins of what was once one of the most prosperous African economies. The few remaining Zimbabwean golfers paid for their end-of-round drinks before they teed off to ensure that prices had not gone up before they returned to the club house amid rocketing inflation. In Mr Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, a whole extended family often had to scrape by on £10 a month sent back from a relative overseas.

Labour costs in Zimbabwe are a fraction of those elsewhere, giving potential entrepreneurs a competitive edge. Much, however, depends on whether skilled Zimbabweans can be enticed back. Many will adopt the “wait-and-see” approach of international donors.

“I would go back immediately and start farming . . . I just want to be sure first,” said Justin Mabuga, a former teacher who now works as a taxi driver in South Africa.

Times Recommends

• Would you live on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall?
• Wish you were here, says Iraq tourist board
• Russian policeman’s corruption plea to Putin