lol... I have a feeling this is only going to make things worse.
http://www.channelstv.com/home/2013/12/15/zimbabwes-51-indigenisation-policy-takes-effect-jan-1/Zimbabwe’s 51% Indigenisation Policy Takes Effect Jan. 1osted by: Channels Television Posted date: December 15, 2013 In: Africa | comment : 1 Comment
The Zimbabwean government of Robert Mugabe has ordered foreign business owners in the country to relinquish 51 per cent of their businesses to the locals.
Business owners that are not ready to comply with the Indigenisation Policy, which will take effect on January 1, will be asked to leave the country.
The country’s economic empowerment legislations passed in 2007 reserved for locals, retail and wholesale businesses barbers shop beauty salons bakeries, employment agencies and grain milling.
Zimbabwe’s Senator, David Coltart, said that the decision was due to the rising unemployment rate in the country.
“Our Economy is in trouble with a very high unemployment rate,” he said.
A foreign analyst from the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Professor Charles Dokubo, says the laws of every land must be respected irrespective of the relations enjoyed.
“Every nation has a way of developing its own economy. The nationals of the country should have a stake in the economy. If not the survival of the state will be at stake. If everything is owned by foreigners it becomes difficult for the country to strategize and implement development plans,” Professor Dokubo said.
However, Liborous Oshoma, a Lagos lawyer, says that the application of the law was a retroactive one.
“It is not done anywhere in the world. Asking the law to apply retroactively means that if you are already in business you need to give locals 51 per cent. This should not be allowed to stand.
“Nigerians should take it up and if the government refuses to concede, we should do what is called retaliation in international diplomacy.
“We should retaliate with the same kind of foreign policy,” he stated.
It is mandatory that foreign nationals who intend to stay in Zimbabwe and do business there must obtain the indigenisation certificate and must be prepared to own just 49 per cent of their businesses.
