admin
Gabriel Masvora in Victoria Falls
INDIGENISATION requirements in the mining sector will remain at the 51:49 percent ratio and adjustments will only be done in non-resources sectors, a Cabinet minister has said.Government announced that it was taking a sector by sector approach in implementing the policy, attracting mixed sentiments in the business community.
Some took this as a way of implying that the policy would be changed across the board including in the mining sector.
However, Mines and Mining Development Minister, Cde Walter Chidakwa, told delegates attending the Chamber of Mines annual general meeting in Victoria Falls on Friday last week, that the changes would only apply to non-resources sectors.
“Let me take this opportunity to clarify the issue of indigenisation. His Excellency (President Mugabe) has made it clear, in resource-based sectors such as mining the 51/49 structure will not be diverted from. Changes will only be made in non-resources sectors,” he said.
Participants at the conference said mining companies were not worried about the law but the need to be consistent in application.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Deputy Governor, Dr Kupukile Mlambo, said miners and Government must engage each other and ensure that there was consistency in policy pronouncement.
“We need to follow through the implementation of laws and we need to be consistent. As long as we are constant anyone who wants to invest will do so knowing the correct position.”
He said it was worrying that investing in Zimbabwe was being governed by five Acts all prescribing different needs which was confusing to the investor.
“We have the Exchange Control Act, the Zimbabwe Investments Act, Securities Act, Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Act and the Indigenisation Act all governing investments in the country. The ZSE market talks of 40 percent threshold, Securities Act 40 percent and Indigenisation policy 51 percent. We need to synchronise these and come up with one policy that will guide investments in the country,” he said.
Zimbabwe Investment Authority chairman Mr Nigel Chanakira said although perception had contributed to a reduction in the flow of investment in the country, mining investors sometimes went into risk markets as long as there was policy consistency.
He said countries such as Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Libya continued to attract investments in mining although they were not stable.
“It is now time for Zimbabwe to turn some of these so-called bad perceptions from bottom upwards. Surely after going down we can only go up,” he said.
Mr Chanakira said mining contributed more than 70 percent of the projects that ZIA was approving showing increased interest in the sector.
He said feedback from investors indicated that Zimbabwe had potential in mining but they were worried over funding projects which they would not have control over.
Mr Chanakira said start-up fees and corruption in some offices was also discouraging investors from putting in their money.
Online Reporter