Zimbabwe Offers Increased Ownership in Exchange for Refinery

Reuters reported that according to Zimbabwe’s mines minister, the country will allow foreign-owned platinum mining companies to own majority shares in their operations as long as they build a refinery in the country. The norm is for companies to send mined material to South Africa for processing.

As quoted in the market news:

New mines Minister Walter Chidhakwa said that if platinum producers came together and established a refinery, which the local mining chamber says will cost at least $2 billion to build, the government could allow the mines to own more shares.

Chidhakwa said there was room for negotiation with mines, pointing to a deal signed in 2010 that allowed the African unit of India’s Essar Group to own 54 percent of Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO) as an example of Harare’s flexibility.

‘The government is simply saying that the guiding principle is 51/49 percent but if the investment does something to this country that can convince us to graduate or move away from the 51/49 percent, we will do so,’ Chidhakwa told Reuters in an interview.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.