Zimbabwe reviewing indigenization law

Government is reviewing the controversial Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act (IEEA) to comply with a policy shift triggered by a presidential intervention in April.

Youth Development, Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Minister, Patrick Zhuwao, confirmed that his ministry was working on amendments to the law but did not disclose the nature of amendments they were planning to implement.

But sources indicated that these were in line with clarification issued by President Robert Mugabe early this year to stop the planned expropriation of foreign-owned banks after Zhuwao had threatened to punish them for failing to comply with the IEEA.

Zimbabwe signed IEEA into law in March 2008, and went on to promulgate related regulations which were gazetted as Statutory Instrument 21 of 2010 in January 2010.