14 April 2016,
IN SUMMARY
In a statement after a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, the veteran ruler said the law had complicated had caused confusion among investors and local businesses.
- Law forces foreign owned companies to cede 51 percent of their shareholding to locals since 2008 saying it would correct colonial imbalances.
- Foreign owned companies were given a March 31 deadline to comply with the law or face closure.
- The IMF has been putting pressure on Zimbabwe to relax the empowerment law as part of raft of reforms
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has admitted that his government’s controversial economic empowerment policy is scaring away investors, indicating softening of demands on foreign owned banks and mines to give majority shares to locals.
In a statement after a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, the veteran ruler said the law had complicated had caused confusion among investors and local businesses.
“This has caused confusion among Zimbabweans, the business community, current and potential investors, thereby undermining market confidence,” he said.
“The situation has also led to increase in cost of doing business, thus further weakening the country’s economic competitiveness.”
President Mugabe has been pushing for the full implementation of the empowerment law that forces foreign owned companies to cede 51 percent of their shareholding to locals since 2008 saying it would correct colonial imbalances.
-Daily Nation
Comments 26