Mugabe sets 2016 as the deadline for indigenisation

President Mugabe has set 2016 as the deadline for all foreign- owned companies to submit their empowerment proposals, saying Government will not tolerate any actions by firms that continue to defy the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act. Officially closing the 15th Annual National People's Conference in Victoria Falls last Saturday, President Mugabe said the illegal economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West and the United States had toughened the Government's resolve to fully utilise its resources.

"There are companies in this country that still refuse to accept our empowerment policy in the mining sector. Well, this is 2015 and, of course, we are in December, the end of year but certainly come January and it's 2016, that stubbornness and resistance we say should end in 2015. In 2016, we will not accept a company which refuses and rejects our policy of indigenisation and empowerment in a manner in which we described," said President Mugabe.

President Mugabe said he had resisted sustained pressure from some within and outside Government to capitulate on the empowerment policy.

"Some have been crying that sanctions, sanctions, that you are too hard, why don't you accept what the Americans say, what the British say. No, we have our own philosophy, ideology and we believe that our natural resources are our own. We don't share them with anyone else except ourselves."

President Mugabe said the Government would accept any companies willing to adhere to the tenets of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act. He said companies should stick to the provisions of the indigenization and empowerment laws that stipulated that locals or Government should have a 51 percent stake in projects that involved the exploitation of natural resources.

President Mugabe said his pan- African stance and resolve in ensuring that Zimbabweans fully benefit from the country's national resources had earned him respect from other African coun- tries.

He narrated an incident at the Forum on China-Africa Forum in South Africa earlier this month where some representative of Francophone countries pleaded with him to sign a document on climate change compelling France to pay a certain amount of money.

Mugabe said despite his earlier reservations, he eventually signed the document after the representatives insisted that his signature would give weight to the document. The Indigenisation and Empowerment Department within the Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment is mandated to guide and co-ordinate the indigenisation and economic empowerment agenda mainly through the implementation of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act.

The department is also responsible for the implementation of measures to ensure broad-based participation by a broad spectrum of the indigenous Zimbabwean population in the indigenisation process.

Over 300 000 Zimbabweans have been economically empowered through the land reform programme and Government is on a drive to ensure more people get shares in foreign-owned companies.