Sweeping changes to empowerment laws

Zimbabwe has made drastic changes to its controversial economic empowerment laws, restricting it to only two minerals. Presenting the 2018 National Budget last week, Finance and Economic Empowerment Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the indigenisation and empowerment threshold will only apply to diamonds and platinum. 'Accordingly, the proposed amendments will confine the 51/49 indigenisation threshold to only these two minerals in the extractive sector,' he said. A report on the Fin24 site notes that Harare introduced the controversial law back in 2010 in an effort to have indigenous Zimbabweans own and benefit from the exploitation and utilisation of the country's natural resources.