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empowerment regulations saying it was important for Government to democratise the economy to avert conflicts caused by exclusionist policies.
This is contrary to what MDC-T leader and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said this week in the United Kingdom during a meeting with businesspeople in London.
During the CEO Summit Africa meeting in London, PM Tsvangirai condemned the empowerment laws describing them as “poorly crafted” and that they scare away potential investors. But addressing investors in Harare on Wednesday at the second Euromoney Zimbabwe Investment Conference, Minister Biti said potential investors must not be scared away by the empowerment regulations.
“Indigenisation is the democratisation of the economy. It is important that you (Government) expand the national cake as wars have been caused by exclusion. The democratisation of the economy is not a challenge,” Minister Biti said.
The minister, who is MDC-T secretary general, said it was important that the empowerment regulations and foreign direct investment “complement each other”.
In his address in London, PM Tsvangirai said: “In the case of Zimbabwe, we have many opportunities in mining, agriculture, tourism and manufacturing and our quest to attract investment has been marred by our bad politics and a poorly crafted empowerment law, which has largely scared away investors.” Without elaborating, PM
Tsvangirai said the MDC-T had managed to contain ‘‘the excesses’’ of the empowerment regulations.
“We have successfully managed to mitigate the excesses of this law because we are an uneasy coalition, but the ultimate answer will lie in a free and fair election as a precondition for a legitimate government in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Despite the confusion within the senior ranks of the MDC-T, Government has gone ahead to implement the empowerment regulations.
President Mugabe has launched community share ownership schemes at platinum mining companies Zimplats, Unki-Mine and Mimosa.
During the launch of the Zvishavane Community Share Ownership Scheme last month, President Mugabe said the empowerment regulations were irreversible. He said the door for further negotiations with foreign companies to comply with the law was now shut.
The black empowerment regulations make it compulsory for foreign owned companies to cede at least 51 percent shareholding to indigenous Zimbabweans. The empowerment regulations, like the land reform exercise, are designed to encourage black participation in an economy historically dominated by foreign capital.
Meanwhile, Minister Biti insisted that the country is not going for elections this year unless a new constitution is in place and conditions prescribed by South African
President Jacob Zuma on the election roadmap are met.
But Zanu-PF has said the elections will go ahead with or without a new constitution and money will be found to fund the polls.
leeroy