HARARE - President Robert Mugabe’s statements at the National Sports Stadium yesterday on the confusion around the indigenisation programme are most welcome given the spectacular slide our economy is going through.
In a surprise but welcome address during Independence celebrations yesterday, Mugabe hit out at the circus around the indigenisation policy, which has seen investors shunning the country for countries like Zambia and South Africa.
The indigenisation policy became notorious when minister of Water Saviour Kasukuwere was at the helm of the ministry of Indigenisation where he pushed through an aggressive drive to take over controlling stakes in foreign-owned companies.
Said Mugabe: “In the implementation of the indigenisation programme, there has been some confusion.
“We have said where the companies have been established mainly on the basis of natural resources, mining, agriculture, manufacturing, we demand that Zimbabwe either through government or through our people should have 51 percent and not less than 51 percent.
“But if a company establishes itself and is getting raw materials from outside and the raw materials are not from here in Zimbabwe, take the case of aluminium, we don’t have raw materials of it; if the raw materials come let’s say from Tanzania, which has it, and the company establishes itself here in Willowvale, we cannot demand 51 percent, we can negotiate with the company on what percent we shall have.
This is most welcome Mr President as it gives assurances to investors that nobody will one day grab their companies and money all because they are black Zimbabweans.
It is a fact of life that Zimbabwe needs foreign investors and if these foreign funders are to bring their money, they need security. Investors want to operate in an environment which legally allows them to do business.
What Zimbabweans need at the moment are jobs and if the Zanu PF proposed ZimAsset policy is to bear fruit, there is need to revisit the indigenisation policy which at the moment is anti-business.
At least the man who succeeded Kasukuwere at the ministry of Indigenisation, Francis Nhema appears sober and Mugabe must use him to attract foreign investors.
Nhema seems to be against Kasukuwere’s one-size-fits-all mantra in which he insisted that no sector was to be exempted from the 51 percent indigenisation equity and that this was the law and everyone had to follow whether they liked it or not.
Nhema recently said: “If you are going into sections of the service industry like banks, manufacturing and others where there is no resource to begin with, then you cannot say the 51 percent is mine.”
In a surprise but welcome address during Independence celebrations yesterday, Mugabe hit out at the circus around the indigenisation policy, which has seen investors shunning the country for countries like Zambia and South Africa.
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| President Mugabe's speech refreshing |
Said Mugabe: “In the implementation of the indigenisation programme, there has been some confusion.
“We have said where the companies have been established mainly on the basis of natural resources, mining, agriculture, manufacturing, we demand that Zimbabwe either through government or through our people should have 51 percent and not less than 51 percent.
“But if a company establishes itself and is getting raw materials from outside and the raw materials are not from here in Zimbabwe, take the case of aluminium, we don’t have raw materials of it; if the raw materials come let’s say from Tanzania, which has it, and the company establishes itself here in Willowvale, we cannot demand 51 percent, we can negotiate with the company on what percent we shall have.
This is most welcome Mr President as it gives assurances to investors that nobody will one day grab their companies and money all because they are black Zimbabweans.
It is a fact of life that Zimbabwe needs foreign investors and if these foreign funders are to bring their money, they need security. Investors want to operate in an environment which legally allows them to do business.
What Zimbabweans need at the moment are jobs and if the Zanu PF proposed ZimAsset policy is to bear fruit, there is need to revisit the indigenisation policy which at the moment is anti-business.
At least the man who succeeded Kasukuwere at the ministry of Indigenisation, Francis Nhema appears sober and Mugabe must use him to attract foreign investors.
Nhema seems to be against Kasukuwere’s one-size-fits-all mantra in which he insisted that no sector was to be exempted from the 51 percent indigenisation equity and that this was the law and everyone had to follow whether they liked it or not.
Nhema recently said: “If you are going into sections of the service industry like banks, manufacturing and others where there is no resource to begin with, then you cannot say the 51 percent is mine.”
