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Indigenisation Law needs rethink

The new Indigenisation Law that came into effect in Zimbabwe this week needs a total rethink and should be re-written to be relevant in this day and era.

To say that people who were disadvantaged more than thirty years ago should be the majority shareholders in any company does not make sense.

If the government had done the right things over the last thirty years there would be no need for this kind of ruling. But because the Zanu PF government did not deliver after all these years they now want reap where they have not sown.

I wonder how people can come with such proposals and even be able to pass them it into law without the intentions and consequences being debated vigorously.

Zimbabwe is not the most attractive country in the world to invest and such laws means companies will just look elsewhere. The neighboring countries must be excited.

Zimbabwe's economy is trying to recover after years of total abuse and neglect and the last thing that kind of economy needs is anti-investment type of laws like this.

Also the most annoying bit is that this law will benefit only a select number of people and I guess less than 200 who will go and get shares in all companies.

The majority of the people will benefit absolutely nothing from this. How will the rural people in Mutoko for example benefit from this? Only a select number of people will actually benefit and those people are already filthy rich right now but greed knows no end.

Its just like the land issue. The best and biggest farms were taken by well connected people whilst the majority haven't seen anything but they are the ones who have suffered the most when economy went into free fall whilst the well connected people shopped in South Africa.

It will be the same with this new law. When companies stop investing in the country or close it will be the local majority who will find themselves without jobs or goods whilst the rich who benefit mostly will continue to import whatever they want either from South Africa or the Far East.

Imagine if say Google wanted to invest in Zimbabwe. Imagine being told that the majority shareholding should be given to local people. Surely for what reason.

The local people should be encouraged to work hard and build their own companies from the ground up. The government's duty is to bring upon an enabling environment and a climate that will local people start their own companies and see them grow.

There are people who have done that already like Strive Masiyiwa of Econet. He didn't go and grab somebody's company and run away with it as his own but he built it from the ground up despite even resistance from the government at the time.

Now he has built a massive company with branches in many countries and I cannot see why anyone who wants to do the same can't follow his model and do the same.

This reaping where people have not sown is a bad omen for a country with many hardworking citizens who would rather work hard and achieve their goals.

I hope that this law will be successfully challenged and repealed because it will certainly pin the country back again and stop whatever little investment was coming into the country.

There is a lot of competition for investment on the African continent alone with some countries even offering tax incentives to attract investment and its rather very foolish to then come with counter productive laws like this one.

Its not surprising then to see why the country is where it is now.

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