Drastic changes have been made to controversial economic empowerment laws in Zimbabwe restricting them to only two minerals, Fin24 reports.
Finance and Economic Empowerment Minister Patrick Chinamasa while presenting the 2018 National Budget on Thursday said the indigenisation and empowerment threshold will only apply to diamonds and platinum.
“Accordingly, the proposed amendments will confine the 51/49 indigenisation threshold to only these two minerals in the extractive sector,” said Chinamasa.
According to the minister apart from the two minerals, the rest of the extractive sectors as well as other economic sectors are open to any interested investor.
“The 51/49% threshold will not apply to the rest of the extractive sector, nor will it apply to the other sectors of the economy, which will be open to any investor regardless of nationality.”
The controversial law was introduced in the southern African nation in 2010 all in an effort to have indigenous Zimbabweans own and benefit from the exploitation and utilisation of the country’s natural resources.
The law was, however, met with resistance and scepticism by international investors who considered it as a way of expropriation.
