President Robert Mugabe’s government published a draft Bill on Monday forcing mining firms to transfer majority shareholdings to local owners, including giving the Zimbabwe government a free 25% stake.
The Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill is expected to be presented to Parliament and to be approved before the end of the year, and follows the passing of a general Bill giving 51% stakes in foreign-owned firms to locals.
Analysts say the latest drive by Mugabe’s government is likely to worsen an economic crisis that has left the Southern African state with the highest inflation rate in the world at nearly 8 000%, and to discourage foreign investment.
The world’s second biggest platinum producer, Impala Platinum, is the foreign mining firm with the most operations in Zimbabwe, while Rio Tinto has diamond interests and platinum firm Anglo Platinum is developing a mine project in the country.
The general Bill passed in September to give black Zimbabweans majority stakes in foreign firms did not include a provision for a 25% government shareholding, as does the current Bill for the mining sector published on Monday.
In September, South Africa’s Implats said it already had agreements in place that it expected would largely meet the requirements of that first law. – Reuters