Minister Zhuwao
Golden Sibanda Senior Business Reporter
THE National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board will soon start following up on all unpaid pledges to indigenisation and empowerment community share ownership trusts amounting to $66 million.
Newly appointed Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic and Empowerment Minister Patrick Zhuwao has instructed NIEEB to follow up on the unpaid pledges, which President Mugabe launched across the country.
Minister Zhuwao said that a total of 61 community share ownership trusts were registered countrywide, but only 20 were now functional while $40 million has so far been paid from total pledges of $116 million.
“One of the first things I would want to ask you is to follow up on these pledges. Look, the President had to come out of his office to stand in front of people and say this is what has been pledged (by companies),” he said.
Minister Zhuwao made the remarks after touring NIEEB offices for the first time since his recent appointment by President Mugabe to the helm of the ministry.
The trusts were formed in terms of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, which requires foreign owned firms to sell at least 51 percent stake to locals to empower the previously disadvantaged black majority.
The trusts were launched by President Mugabe in 2012 and the expectation was that the trusts and pledges would help transform communities across the country, especially in the mineral resource rich belts.
The majority of the trusts have failed to take off amid widespread allegations of wanton abuse of the trusts funds by influential community leaders. In other instances, companies have not honoured their pledges.
In one of the many cases were the community share trust has been shrouded in controversy, companies pledged to fund the Zimunya Marange share trust to the tune of $50 million, but only $400 000 has been realised.
Former Indigenisation Minister Francis Nhema once said that Government would probe abuse of trust funds by powerful figures, allegedly including chiefs and politicians and also audit what was agreed on.
Minister Zhuwao yesterday said there have not been major changes to Government’s indigenisation and empowerment policy and warned other high profile Government officials from issuing statements about the policy.
The minister said that some of the confusion that has been generated about the indigenisation policy stemmed from conflicting messages issues by people commenting on portfolios they are not suppose to speak about.
Minister Zhuwao also dismissed claims from some quarters that Zimbabweans did not have financial resources to pay for shares in foreign owned companies as well as the intellect to run inherited foreign entities.
He said the country had plus or minus half a million professionals spread across the Diaspora who had qualifications, experience and resources to invest in foreign owned companies and successfully run the firms.
Minister Zhuwao said the about 500 000 professional Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora, with at savings of say $100 000, could easily put together an amount of $50 billion they could invest in foreign owned entities.
“If someone says Zimbabweans do not have the assets to pay for indigenisation, it is nonsense. So we cannot talk about Zimbabweans not having capacity to run the economy,” Minister Zhuwao said at NIEEB.