adminbusinesspeople found themselves with nothing overnight with the changeover to foreign currency giving an edge to a few privileged locals and mostly foreigners who started flooding the local market after noticing a vacuum created by this lack of capital.
This state of affairs created a free-for-all whereby many foreigners came into the country and established businesses with authorities turning a blind eye to regulatory provisions.
We are glad that the Government has finally taken a step to rectify that anomaly following complaints by pressure groups that foreigners were pushing out Zimbabwean businesspeople, especially from the retail sector.
The Government has given all businesses operating in reserved sectors of the economy under the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act a six-month ultimatum to apply for indigenisation compliance certificates.
On Friday the Government gazetted regulations that make it mandatory for all locally and foreign-owned firms in reserved sectors to apply for indigenisation compliance certificates. No foreign-owned company would be given the licence for reserved sectors.
Reserved sectors are agriculture (primary production of food and cash crops), transportation, retail and wholesale trade, barber shops, hair dressing and beauty salons, employment and estate agencies and grain milling.
Other sectors are bakeries, tobacco grading and packaging, tobacco processing, advertising agencies, milk processing and provision of local arts and crafts, marketing and distribution.
Pressure groups rightly feel that Zimbabweans were being elbowed out of certain sectors, especially the clothing sector where many foreigners had set up shop and pushed out local businesspeople while at the same time pushing up rents for business premises to levels local businesses could not afford.
We believe some of the businesses that are competing with our retailers are manufacturers in their own countries and that they should trade with local wholesale merchants and where possible, set up manufacturing plants locally to create jobs instead of threatening both local retailers and manufacturers.
The growth of these foreign-owned businesses in reserved sectors has actually raised concern that Zimbabweans could be forced to use unconventional means to drive them out as has happened in other countries.
The Government should be commended for moving in to ensure adherence to regulations and protection of local businesses before we witnessed any mayhem from rising discontent.
We would like to warn, however, that following the gazetting of the regulations giving foreign owned businesses six months to comply with regulations, many were likely to engage in “non-empowering partnerships” with local businesspeople in order to meet requirements on paper while going against the spirit of indigenisation.
Also, pressure groups that have been clamouring for the indigenisation of the retail sector as per regulations should ensure that businesspeople organise themselves to take over these shops after January next year in order to avoid a situation whereby there would be another vacuum that could force prices up to the disadvantage of consumers.
We know that there shall be resistance from some sectors but we have seen the benefits of indigenisation in other areas where the country has banned even the importation of foodstuffs that can be produced locally such as chickens.
Local businesses should grab this opportunity and not fail to take over the clothing retail sector and other related sectors next year when the foreigners leave these sectors.
Online Reporter