{{Zimbabwe has given about 100 foreign companies a 14 day ultimatum to comply with its empowerment laws that force the firms to cede 51% of their stakes to locals.}}
President Mugabe says the empowerment policies are meant to correct the imbalances created by the country’s colonial past.
According to a statement by the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board (NIEEB), the companies must get certificates to show that they have complied with the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act laws.
The board also gave foreigners running companies trading sectors of the economy reserved for locals such as the retail sector until January next year to comply with the regulations.
“NIEEB also reminds companies that are trading in the reserved sector of the economy to apply for certification before 1st January 2014,” the board said.
“Any person who operates a business in the sectors prescribed under the Third Schedule without an indigenisation compliance certificate from 1st January 2014 shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level four or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.”
Following his controversial re-election in July, President Robert Mugabe has promised to press on with the empowerment policies, which have unsettled foreign investors.
In its election manifesto, his Zanu PF said the empowerment policies would target over 1138 companies across 14 sectors of the economy.
President Mugabe has also vowed to seize British and American companies in retaliation against the sanctions imposed on his family and close associates for alleged electoral fraud and a bad human rights record.
A number of companies in the mining sector have since complied with the regulations.
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