Indigenisation must empower women

Act (2007), where foreign owned companies are compelled to cede 51 percent shares to locals.
Mining companies, banks and other foreign owned entities have engaged Government at different levels to find ways of implementing the process.
It is, however, a cause for concern that in all these discussions women as a special group are located at the margins of the indigenisation process, despite it having so much potential for their well being.
The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act stipulates that people can benefit through Community Share Ownership Schemes and Employee Share Ownership Schemes/Trust.
While the benefits of indigenising industries may be obviously to empower Zimbabweans, the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act has been widely criticised.
Many people are sceptical that a few individuals with the capacity to buy shares may abuse the Act.
Dr Gideon Gono in his July 2011 Monetary Policy Statement stated that “This law must not be used to multiply pockets of inefficiency, in as far as utilisation of national resources and opportunities of the country is concerned”.
Indeed the indigenisation process should contribute towards poverty reduction through equitable redistribution of resources.
Women as a disadvantaged group should be targeted. Women often lack access to resources mainly because of their subservient position in society.
Women are often assigned to domestic roles and face challenges in uplifting themselves in society.
As stipulated by international law, states should make an effort towards increasing women’s access to resources as well as eliminate discrimination of women in all sectors.
While the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act states that the Government can hold shares on behalf of special interest groups like women and the youth, the Act does not elaborate on measures that can be taken to ensure ordinary women benefit from the redistribution of resources.
The Act specifies that Community Share Ownership Schemes are required to have a woman representative among their 7-15 members. Considering that men dominate most of the positions stated as eligible for membership (chiefs, district administrator, council chairperson and CEO of RDC), women tend to lose out in terms of representation within the schemes.
This negatively impacts on women’s role in the indigenisation process as well as compromise the prioritisation of women related developmental projects by the Community Share Ownership Schemes.
While it is welcome that the Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment, Saviour Kasukuwere has from time to time enunciated that the indigenisation law targets, the youth, women, the disabled as key constituencies.
Grey areas still remain in mainstreaming gender in the implementation of the empowerment act.
Women may be appointed in various community and employee share ownership scheme boards but without an instrument that enforces their participation in each empowerment acquisition, inequalities will still remain.
Minister Kasukuwere admits that there is still need to get the gender balance right and to ensure that the role of women goes beyond community ownership schemes to industry and other sectors.
Whenever there is an indigenisation acquisition there must be a share for women.
It should, however, be pointed out that contrary to common belief; holding of shares is not synonymous to having liquid money.
Communities can only benefit from the Community Ownership Schemes once the companies they hold shares in make profits and share dividend.
While women can benefit from the indigenisation process through the Community Share Ownership Schemes, they stand to benefit more through the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund.
The Fund was established to finance the acquisition of working capital, shares, and other forms of finance for indigenous people.
As such, it should be clearly spelt out how much money (if any) is available for acquisition of shares for women and what sectors are open for participation.
Exploitation of the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund has greater potential to promote gender equality as well as transform socio-economic conditions for women around the country.
Information on how women can form consortiums, companies and small businesses as well as acquisition of shares should be distributed particularly to ordinary women in rural areas who are not privy to the mainstream media. The indigenisation process should produce tangible results that benefit communities in particular those communities in which resources are being exploited.
Thorough scrutiny in the process is needed to ensure individuals do not abuse the exercise for their own benefit.
The Zimbabwe Women’s Resource centre and Network is an Information based organisation advocating for gender equality and equity.

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