Zimbabwe - 51% Nationalisation Issue

[Miro Bagrov]

I want to ask what eveyone thinks of the latest nationalisation Mugabe anounced in Zim

The news reports that the government is deffinately nationalising 51% of foreign owned banks and mines. Among them Barkleys, and Standard Chartered.
The banks stopped issuing loans in Zimbabwe. The government made them an ultimatium to sell 51% to locals, or be nationalised 51% by the government.

This seems to be very under the rug in big news stations and I don't wonder will the foreigners make any attempt to stop this?

[Justloadit]

Not much one can do. How do you stop it.
The country will simply spiral further in to the abyss.
There is no way that anyone will do any kind of investment in a country which changes the laws to suite the elite at a whim.

Some time in the future, after the dust has settled, all this will have to be reversed at a great expense to the country, or there will be no interenational investment to uplift the country by the very corporates who would have lost their shares with the up and coming nationalization process.

All these things also happened in Mozambique and Angola, and until the present governements changed, the countries remained in a stagnant state.

[Miro Bagrov]

It's interesting to me that no foreign powers have kicked any dust about this.

In the 60's presidents were assassinated for threatening nationalisation in Latin America. Why is no one even raising an eyebrow for foreign interest this time?

[wynn]

Aah this is 'Africa' where all the countries are forced to go to the basement before the 'Big Men' get off with what they have stolen before the lift can start to go upwards, some countries like Zim just have a multilevel basement.

[Phil Cooper]

Thjere is no oil there. And the yanks grow tobacco. So it suits them to let it disappear.

[Dave A]

Mugabe's indiginisation program has been coming for a while now. I'm sure one way or another the affected have made suitable preparations to minimise their losses.

I suspect the Zim government is going to find themselves 51% owners of very little in terms of real nett value.

[Miro Bagrov]

@ Phil - true, maybe they are just a small player. Or, possibly the timing is right, since all those nations are focused on the middle east.

@ Dave - I agree, the businesses will boycott or sell off, or maybe try something more complicated. Since they have the option to give 51% to local black zims, maybe they will start by setting up dummy front companies they way they did in early BBE days here.

Then the next question is, will this spill over into South Africa.
My biggest fear is that if they get away with it. Given how closely tied the two nation's politicians are, they will use it as a blueprint here.
In that case, all our local business and investment is at risk...

For example, notice the close timing of Zimbabwean land grab and local Land Claims. Very similar way of thinking at a similar time.