Amid growing debate over the role of foreign multinationals in Zimbabwe, none of the large South African corporations in the country is considering withdrawing.
Old Mutual would not say whether it would hold on to a large investment in Zimpapers, the company that owns The Herald newspaper, a notoriously one-sided Zanu-PF mouthpiece.
Old Mutual is the second-largest shareholder in the newspaper group, after a government-controlled trust.
Old Mutual had not responded to questions sent by the Mail & Guardian at the time of going to press.
South African banks have provided financial support to Zimbabwean agriculture, most of which is now owned by Zanu-PF bigwigs and other beneficiaries of land grabs since 2000.
According to treasury statistics detailing financial institutions’ support for this year’s farming season, Nedbank’s Zimbabwe subsidiary, MBCA Bank, channelled lines of credit worth US$40-million to the Zimbabwe government for the purchase of farm inputs. Some of that lending also went towards funding the purchase of tobacco.
Stanbic, Standard Bank’s subsidiary, provided US$18-million to support cotton merchants this year.
It is not possible to find out how much of this funding reached resettled farmers. Nedbank did not immediately respond to queries sent to it.
This week banks in Zimbabwe said they would no longer lend to farmers sitting on seized land until they have legal title to the land. In response Mugabe said he would “speak to them” so that they accept as security for loans “offer letters”, which allow holders to forcibly take over farms.
Few foreign firms look ready to leave Zimbabwe. And, given the steady stream of South African business delegations arriving in Zimbabwe in recent weeks, more South African money is heading that way.
SABMiller has put an additional $16-million into Delta Beverages to expand its canning factory and meet growing beer demand.
Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Minerals is investing $300-million in new coal and platinum projects in Zimbabwe, according to Dan Simelane, the company’s chief executive for exploration.
Motsepe led a delegation of South African businessmen that met Mugabe in Harare in April. That meeting was arranged by Business Unity South Africa, which encourages its members, some of the largest South African companies, to invest in Zimbabwe.
Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita, of ArcelorMittal South Africa, confirmed that Africa’s largest steelmaker is one of six foreign bidders for Zimbabwe’s state steel company Ziscosteel, which was run into the ground by a succession of scandals involving top government officials.
Mzi Khumalo’s Metallon Gold is seeking funding to restore its Zimbabwe operation. Its five mines accounted for more than half of the country’s total gold output before they were shut down last year after the reserve bank failed to pay for gold deliveries worth $20-million from the company.
At the height of the economic crisis in Zimbabwe, large retailers such as Pick n Pay and Edcon wrote off their Zimbabwean investments. But the retail chains are now sinking more money into the country.
Shoprite plans to buy into OK Zimbabwe, whereas Pick n Pay will maintain its 25% share of TM Supermarkets. Pep Stores also has a presence in Zimbabwe, through the Power Sales clothing chain.
Tongaat Hewlett is investing R145-million to restore its sugar estates in the south and east of the country. The estates have long been a centre of controversy, with the Zimbabwe government seeking to resettle thousands of small-scale farmers on the company’s Hippo Valley estates.
Zimbabwean rights groups have welcomed the international pressure that forced Nestlé to stop buying milk from a dairy farm run by Grace Mugabe. Yet, few would publicly back a campaign to pressure other multinational companies to withdraw from Zimbabwe.
Mugabe would use any such pressure to justify his repeated claims that Western sanctions are to blame for Zimbabwe’s economic collapse.
Although he has managed to convince his regional peers that Western measures against himself and his associates are the cause of the economic crisis, a senior United States diplomat in Harare this week restated the Western position that action against Mugabe’s rule has been specifically targeted.
Trade between Zimbabwe and the US has in fact doubled since the measures came into effect in 2003, according to James Garry, second secretary for economic affairs at the US embassy in Harare. Legislation bars US representatives in international financial institutions from authorising lending to Zimbabwe. But Garry insists these laws have never been used.
“While US sanctions may have harmed the business interests of some individuals, there is no evidence that they have had any negative macroeconomic impact on Zimbabwe,” said Garry.