ZANU PF says it will step up the implementation of the indigenisation and empowerment law after President Robert Mugabe forms the new government, marking an end to the shaky coalition government formed in 2009.
Report by Acting Business Editor
This development comes at a time when Zimbabwe’s benchmark stock index fell 11% on Monday — the biggest fall since 2009 — due to uncertainty surrounding the poll outcome.
The party won a disputed election last Wednesday and, according to an advertisement yesterday, plans to transform the economy over the next five years through the empowerment policy which compels foreign-owned companies operating in the country to sell 51% stakes to locals. The policy, the party contends, will quicken average GDP growth rate to 9% by 2018, up from the current 4,4%.
“Zanu PF is ready to start implementing the policies expressed in the party’s people’s manifesto. These policies are premised on the indigenisation of the economy and the monetisation of indigenised and idle assets,” said the party.
“Over the next five years, Zimbabwe is going to witness a unique wealth-transfer model that will see ordinary people take charge of their economy.”
Mugabe extended his 33-year rule with 61% of the vote in the July 31 election and his party secured a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who won 34%, described the polls as null and void and called for the African Union and Sadc to back his demand for a rerun.
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In the run up to the elections, Mugabe threatened to turn the heat on foreign-owned banks he accused of not fully supporting agriculture, once the mainstay of the economy. Mining has since overtaken agriculture as the country’s top foreign currency earner although the capital-intensive sector requires near $7 billion to retool and increase output.
Zanu PF, according to the party’s election manifesto, has plans to create value of $7,3 billion from the indigenisation of 1 138 companies across 14 key sectors of the economy and over $1 billion from the idle value of empowerment assets unlocked from parastatals, local authorities, mineral rights and claims. The party says it also plans to secure more capital for the state-owned Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe.
These initiatives, the party says, will create 2 265 million jobs across key sectors of the economy and contribute to export earnings, food security and to the fiscus, among many other benefits, that also include urban housing and construction on peri-urban farms acquired during the land reform exercise.
Already, major mining companies such as Impala Platinum Holdings and Anglo American Platinum have partially complied with the empowerment law, which analysts say may trigger capital flight. Zimbabwe has the world’s second-biggest platinum and chrome reserves, as well as diamond, gold and coal deposits.
