The Zimbabwean Government says it will remove a clause from the Finance Act, which has caused anxiety within the mining sector, as it appears to reinstate an abandoned policy on majority shareholding in mining ventures.
The ministers of finance, mines and mining development, as well as industry and commerce, said this in the statement.
According to the Act, the minister responsible for the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, may, in consultation with the ministers responsible for mines and finance, prescribe a mineral, the extraction of which would be subject to 51 per cent shareholding by a designated entity.
However, a joint statement issued by three ministers, on Wednesday, said the clause would be removed from the law so as to enhance certainty in the investing public.
“It has come to government’s notice that the amendment to the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act contained in the Finance Act (No 2), 2020 (Section 36) may have caused some misconception to some investors and other stakeholders in the mining sector,’’ the ministers said.
They reiterated that the government had announced a policy position to remove the requirement for 51 per cent of the shareholding of businesses involved in the extraction of platinum and diamond to be owned through designated entities.
“To enhance certainty in relation to investments in the mining sector, and consistent with government policy, this insertion will be deleted,’’ the ministers said. (Xinhua/NAN)