via Has Mugabe seen the light? – DailyNews Live 26 MAY 2014
News that the cash-strapped government will review the indigenisation and empowerment policy with a view to lure investors, shows the seriousness of the economic situation facing the country.
Government announced at the weekend that there would be a review of the indigenous and empowerment policy to facilitate “sector-specific implementation.”
The review will allow investors to recover initial capital investment, receive an appropriate return on investment and recoup operational costs, it was said.
But there is no escaping from the fact that President Robert Mugabe and his colleagues in government have limited options to get the stuttering economy out of “jail.”
It is squeaky bum time for the leadership as the financial meltdown is being felt in huge proportions.
We have said it before, joining many choruses, how Mugabe and his cronies in Zanu PF need to adopt an approach that is investor-friendly in rolling out the implementation.
It must be noted that no one is against indigenisation and empowerment but its implementation in which former minister, Savior Kasukuwere, drove home the largely archaic one-size-fits-all, plan.
Just like the land reform programme in which many cool heads favoured a phased takeover with compensation, the indigenisation has had the same effect — scaring away investors.
The negative ripple effects of this have been felt especially after last year’s elections which saw massive capital flight out of the economy. Capital is timid and those who own it are so suspicious of those that they deal with if there are cloudy issues.
Now that Mugabe’s government is beginning to smell the coffee, we expect an aggressive campaign to lure investors to these shores. There is no doubt that we need massive capital injection and foreign direct investment to resuscitate industry and other sectors of the economy that are in a comatose state.
The Zanu PF government must swallow its liberation pride which we all admire although it is wrongly mentioned whenever faulty lines are exposed in the liberation movement.
Times have changed.
The world is fast-paced and there is need to embrace policies that help Zimbabweans grow the economy and their personal lives.
This is why a new policy shift on indigenisation and empowerment tickles progressive minds.
More importantly, it is a subtle but very real admission that Zimbabwe’s leadership has noticed the warnings of the route to quicksand.
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