{"id":203598,"date":"2016-04-01T19:00:54","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T19:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=203598"},"modified":"2016-04-01T19:00:54","modified_gmt":"2016-04-01T19:00:54","slug":"zimbabwe-black-ownership-deadline-passes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/04\/zimbabwe-black-ownership-deadline-passes\/","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe black ownership deadline passes"},"content":{"rendered":"
A Zimbabwe deadline for all firms to transfer most of their shares to black Zimbabweans has passed, but it is not clear how many have complied.<\/p>\n
The government had said that companies should meet the requirements of a 2008 indigenisation law by the end of March.<\/p>\n
Theoretically, non-compliance could lead to a company losing its license.<\/p>\n
This was a key part of Robert Mugabe’s 2013 election campaign – on the basis that black people were discriminated against during the colonial era.<\/p>\n
But it has proved controversial, with detractors saying that it could discourage much-needed foreign direct investment.<\/p>\n
The Reuters news agency quotes the minister responsible, Patrick Zhuwao, as saying that most of the country’s foreign-owned banks and mining companies have not submitted their indigenisation plans, adding that he thought they would do soon.<\/p>\n
But Mr Zhuwao told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme that his ministry was currently “going through submissions made by companies [and] we don’t have statistics yet” on who has complied.<\/p>\n
He dismissed concerns that the measures would scare off foreign investors.<\/p>\n
“Those statements come from voodoo economists,” he said, “and these statements are really very far removed from reality.”<\/p>\n
He added that the “law is attempting to negate the imbalances that were created by racism as a result of our colonial history”.<\/p>\n