Foreign retailers probed

By Kuda Bwititi
THE Government might soon revoke the licences of foreign retail shop owners amid revelations that their participation in the sector is against the law.
In an interview last Thursday, Industry and Commerce Minister Professor Welshman Ncube said the Investment Act reserves the retail sector for indigenous businesspeople, but foreigners had taken over.
Section 21 (Third Schedule) of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment (General) Regulations also advocates local investment in this and 13 other sectors.
Prof Ncube said Government was investigating flagrant breaches of the law with a view to taking corrective measures.
“I am awaiting a report following investigations that were launched into the influx of the foreigners in Harare,” he said.
“The delimitation of the report was the Kopje area in the eastern part of Harare where we have observed an increase in the number of foreigner shop operators.
“We will consider the appropriate action to be taken after receiving the report; we will revoke the licences of the foreign operators.”
Prof Ncube indicated that the Harare City Council had gone against the country’s laws by prioritising non-Zimbabwean businesspeople in the sector.
The local authority is responsible for licencing shop owners in the city.
“The city council should take the country’s laws into account when issuing licences to retailers,” he said.
Affirmative Action Group (AAG) president Mr Supa Mandiwanzira said the Harare City Council should explain its actions, adding that many indigenous Zimbabweans were being disadvantaged.
“As AAG, we have always raised concern about this issue because the law clearly states that the retail sector should be reserved for locals,” he said.
“We are puzzled as to why local authorities continue to issue licences to foreigners and ignore the laws of the country.
“Local authorities should be taken to task and explain why they are issuing licences to the foreigners,” he said.
Last year, the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion clashed with foreign investors who defied a directive to register with the Zimbabwe Investment Authority by 30 October.
The registration exercise was expected to ultimately lead to the creation of a database of all foreign investors in the country so as to facilitate smooth investment.
Analysts say the investors’ defiance indicates that a good number of them is operating illegally.
Regulations supporting the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act reserve the following sectors for local investors: agriculture (primary production of food and cash crops), transport (passenger buses, taxis and car hire services), retail and wholesale trade, barber shops, hairdressing and beauty salons, employment agencies, estate agencies, valet services, grain milling, bakeries, tobacco grading and packaging, tobacco processing, advertising, milk processing and provision of local arts and craft, marketing and distribution.