In Zimbabwe mining companies need to submit plans to surrender 51% of company ownership to black Zimbabweans over the next six months.
The plans need to be submitted by May 9. The shares will be paid as per the value of the minerals underground. The new policies are part of President Robert Mugabe’s plan to uplift the black Zimbabweans economically by sharing assets.
Many Zimbabweans fear that the drastic change in mining policies will see the country lose out on foreign investments. A decline in the growth of the mining industry is also predicted but it is yet to be seen if the industry will completely collapse like the agricultural industry after the Mugabe led government seized land from more than 4,000 white farmers in 2000.
Indigenization Minister Saviours Kasukuwere wrote the new regulations where all mining companies must be owned by a Zimbabwean black majority. This includes underdeveloped sites where both individuals and mining companies have been given concession on unexplored land. Last year the net asset value of companies that would have to sell controlling stakes to indigenous Zimbabweans had been $500,000 but it has now been reduced to $ 1.
Zimbabwe is rich in platinum, gold, and diamonds. It also has rich deposits of coal. The mining sector is expected to earn about $ 1 billion per year and the President wants this to be shared with black Zimbabweans. There are many critics of the policy but the government is still pursuing its own agenda.