Zimbabwe's Mugabe Signs Nationalization Law
March 10, 08
According to the state-owned Sunday Mail, the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Bill forces every Zimbabwe-based company to have black Zimbabweans as majority owners. The bill, which was published in the Government Gazette on Friday, stipulates, “No restructuring, merger or demerger shall be approved unless indigenous Zimbabweans hold 51 percent shares in the resultant business.” Talk of a possible nationalization of mining in the country has been floating for a couple of years. Mugabe already ensured that indigenous Zimbabweans take over privately held farms owned by whites. Among the companies that will be affected is Rio Tinto, which owns 77.8 percent the Murowa diamond mine.