Significance of Indigenisation in Modern day Zimbabwe.
Presentation by
HONOURABLE S. KASUKUWERE (MP)
Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment
at the
Public Lecture
Bindura University, Bindura
13 May 2011.
Salutations
The Acting Vice Chancellor of Bindura University
The Registrar of Bindura University, Mrs Rumhuma.
Ladies and Gentlemen
All Protocols observed
Background on Indigenisation..
Colonial system: Dispossession, marginalisation & exclusion of indigenous Zimbabweans.
Since independence Government of Zimbabwe passed various legislation to rectify colonial injustices.
Fundamental principles
Recognition of the universally accepted notion of equal opportunities for all as a matter of natural right & the need to eliminate ownership of wealth along racial lines.
That indigenous Zimbabweans must own & benefit from the exploitation and utilization of their God given natural resources.
• Commitment to underpin our political sovereignty through economic independence.
• The need for broad-based participation in the indigenisation process as opposed to the enrichment of a few individuals only.
• To democratise ownership of productive assets of the country.
Indigenisation & Economic Empowerment Legislative Framework.
Indigenisation & Economic Empowerment Act (Chapter 14:33).
Indigenisation & Economic Empowerment (General) Regulations, 2010.
Indigenisation & Economic Empowerment (General) (Amendment) Regulations, 2010.
Indigenisation & Economic Empowerment Legislation
- Act sets 51% indigenous shareholding in all businesses with a net asset value of US$ 500 000.
- Promotes procurement of goods and services from indigenous businesses.
- Provides for the establishment of the National Indigenisation & Economic Empowerment Board to advise the Minister & manage the Fund.
- Provides for the establishment of the National Indigenisation & Economic Empowerment Fund to finance indigenisation and empowerment transactions.
- Provides for financial instruments to assist local investors with funding from fiscus, levies & borrowings.
Indigenisation and Modern Day Zimbabwe
• To democratise ownership of productive assets of the country and promote the development of a competitive domestic private sector that will spearhead economic growth and development.
- Creates opportunities for indigenous Zimbabweans to participate in the mainstream economy.
• Economically empower previously disadvantaged Zimbabweans and create conditions that will enhance the economic status of disadvantaged Zimbabweans.
- Creates a Zimbabwean economy that doesnt have islands of prosperity and seas of poverty by insuring there is broad based economic empowerment
• Ensures the achievement of Socio-Economic rights that Zimbabweans have been deprived of by the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.
• Creates a stable investment environment through the broad based empowerment and partnering.
• Will reduce the wide gap between the rich and the poor and prevent economical uprisings by ensuring all Zimbabweans benefit through the setting up of a national Sovereign Wealth Fund that will be financed mainly by income from the nations natural resources.
- Will ensure the preservation of wealth for future generations through the Sovereign Wealth Fund
Indigenisation- Empowerment and the Zimbabwean Youth…
•Build hope in youths and encourage them to get educational training as this is the basic springboard for economic development.
•Young Economists and intellectuals being trained at this institution (Bindura University) need to take charge and develop a growth model for the country.
•Funding of young Entrepreneurs that come up with business ideas in the various sectors of the economy that will not only benefit themselves but have a positive effective on the economy.
- The need to understand that empowerment is about the state of mind and youths need to know that monney follows a good idea not the other way round.
- The youths should participate in small scale mining and other areas of interest and have access to the Youth Development Fund which is accesible at all the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment Provincial offices...
•Youths participating in the Mining, Manufacturing and Tourism Sectors but should be prepared to work hard and emulate what other countries have done to develop e.g. China as they constitute the majority of Zimbabwe’s population.
Conclusion
•The indigenisation and economic empowerment laws are premised on the need to forge mutually beneficial partnerships between local and foreign investors and shy away from the traditional structures that were premised on racial domination and denied the majority from economic activities.
• We stress an economic empowerment process that is based on partnerships with both foreign and local investors, growth, development and enterprise development, and not merely the redistribution of existing wealth to ensure the growth of an economically stable modern Zimbabwe.
Thank you!
Honorable Saviour Kasukuwere (M.P)
Zimbabwe Minister of Youth, Indigenisation and Empowerment