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Joseph Madzimure

Senior Reporter

ZANU PF revised the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act to ensure it fits with the country’s new economic thrusts, the party Secretary for Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Dr Mike Bimha said.

As part of educating business on the contents of the new policy framework, Dr Bimha will today headline a cast that includes Government ministers in Bulawayo to meet with various stakeholders.

Speaking at a press conference in Harare yesterday, Dr Bimha said the programme will explain to various stakeholders the changes contained in the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act.

“There has been confusion when there was the amendment in terms of the 51/49 shareholding threshold, which was dealt away with, because it was felt that it was not really in line with Zimbabwe being Open for Business in terms of attracting investment both local and foreign,” said Dr Bimha.

The removal, he said, was misconstrued by some stakeholders that the party and Government are now back-pedalling on empowerment.

“One of the objectives of this meeting is to stress that contrary to that, what we have done is to remove sections that we felt were not in line with our current thrust, which is ‘Zimbabwe is Open for Business’, and also engaging and re-engaging.

“When you look at the revised policy, it’s not like a new policy, it’s revised because of changed circumstances. When the environment changes, strategies have to change as well so that they are keeping with environmental factors.  “There have been economic issues, political and social but more importantly, has been the thrust in terms of the New Dispensation to really focus on economic development”.

He also said that the thrust of the Revised Policy is to promote human capital development.

“We cannot develop by just having capital. We can’t just develop because there is equipment, you develop when you have people who then utilise these other factors of production. People are very critical, so the element of human capital development or capacity building is quite critical and I think that area is very much addressed in our policy to ensure that our people across the board are aware of what we want to do. Each and every one of us has a role to play,” he said.

Cde Bimha will have a slot to explain the policy at the Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) meeting which will be held at Davis Hall in Bulawayo.

“We will have a slot to explain the policy to the various structures of the party particularly at PCC level.

“In the evening at a time to be decided, there will be a presentation of this policy to various stakeholders, the business fraternity among others”.

Cde Bimha said there are a number of interest groups when it comes to empowerment.

“We do have the Affirmative Action Group which I think is the most vocal one.

“There has been talk about empowerment. As an interest group they have been lobbying for certain issues which should be taken into consideration,” said Dr Bimha.

There are also other interested groups around this country in various towns who are looking at participating in the various sectors of the economy.

The Government has established the Zimbabwe Development Agency (ZIDA) to improve the ease of doing business and thrust of the formalisation of the informal sectors as part of plans to woo investors.