Proposal to levy firms 5 pc revenue to communities

The Governing party Zanu PF wants mining companies to be levied 5 percent of their revenues to fund development of communities where they operate, a senior official has said.

“As a party, this is what we want to see,” Zanu PF secretary for economic empowerment, Dr Mike Bimha told Business Weekly newsletter in a telephone interview yesterday.

“As the ruling party we give direction (policy formulation) but as it is now, we cannot compel anyone to comply since it is still a party policy.”

The party recently launched the new indigenisation and empowerment policy-2020-2030, which also seeks mining companies, excluding artisinal miners, not participating in community share ownership schemes to establish corporate responsibility programmes.

About two thirds of the funds will go towards community development programmes in the district where the company is operating while the remainder will be equally shared among other districts in the province, Dr Bimha said.

President Mnangagwa’s administration discarded the previous indigenisation policy, which forced foreign owned businesses to cede 51 percent shareholding to black indigenous people, arguing it was scaring investors.-ebusinessweekly.clz.w