Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has scrapped the Indigenisation Act which restricted foreign shareholding in platinum and diamond to 49% and replaced it with the Empowerment Act that will see the two minerals out of the reserve list as the country seeks to attract foreign capital.
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube met with the different sectors of the economy in Harare on Monday for the Mid-term Budget Review under the banner Charting The New Way Forward and pledged that government will not retain some of the empowerment issues on diamond and platinum.
“Coming to the Indigenization Act, again we have repealed the issue for diamond and platinum. Those were two minerals that were left on the reserve list.”
“We will repeal the act and replace it with what we call the Empowerment Act where diamond and platinum are no longer on the reserve list,” he said.
Ncube said the move is in line with the new dispensation mantra that Zimbabwe is open for business.
“To me that is more consistent with Zimbabwe is open for business,” he said.
Zimbabwe plans to grow mineral revenue from a projected 4,2 Billion this year to 12 billion by 2023
Ncube also told the economists that government is working on creating more dry ports in Zimbabwe to cushion private sector from other countries when they want to import goods.
“We are also about to create a few domestic Dry Ports in Zimbabwe.”
“Currently we are investigating a dry port in Masvingo, a dry port in Bulawayo and a dry port in Makuti.
