Hosia Mviringi
The Affirmative Action Group, Zimbabwe's premier empowerment movement has raised it's voice to demand right to first refusal in the imminent disposal of building materials manufacturer Lafarge.
The empowerment group has come out guns blazing at the apparent exclusion of the local business community in the deal that is expected to see millions of dollars exchanging hands for this prime asset on the Zimbabwean business front.
"We want to categorically reiterate that we are not seeking to interfere in the private sale of Lafarge, but we are demanding our stake as Zimbabwean business people. We got the money, we got the resources and we got the expertise to run these companies," said AAG Vice President Mr Tobias Kashambe in a statement to the media.
AAG contends that the importance of such an entity as Lafarge to the Zimbabwean economy can not be over emphasised as the country enters the crucial growth phase which is underpinned by the lucrative construction industry.
As such it is their belief that Zimbabwe can not afford to throw hands in the air and surrender this lucrative yet strategic investment, into the hands of foreigners and foreign owned entities.
Zimbabwe needed to take control of the production of building materials so that the construction industry supply chain is safeguarded.
According to AAG, the imminent sale of Lafarge by French domiciled Holcim presented a rare opportunity for local investors to break into this strategic business sector and guarantee the security and stability of the built industry in the country.
To prove the capability of local businesses, AAG said, local construction companies have acquitted themselves extremely well so far in ongoing road construction projects. As such the group believes that locals should be given first preference in the acquisition of a stake in the business on strict business terms.
"We saw a similar thing happen a few years ago when Barclays Bank shareholders decided to sell their stake in local operations to a Malawian domiciled investor without putting out a request for expression of interest to Zimbabwean investors".
The Barclays transaction prejudiced Zimbabweans of a real chance to take ownership of a business which the local market had nurtured for almost a century. Thus the empowerment advocacy group calls for government intervention to allow locals a chance to participate in the disposal and acquisition of this strategic corporation.
"They are about to seal, or they could have already have sealed a deal with Chinese cement maker, Huaxin Cement to take over Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe. Our concern is that this transaction is happening or has already happened without the participation of local investors in the deal".
" As Zimbabwean people, I can assure you, and can categorically state that we have the propensity and capacity to acquire Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe, not on a grabbing basis, but on a business basis, a win win situation. The amount that we hear being thrown around for the purchase of this entity is not out of our reach. We have the financial capacity to acquire this business if a fair chance is availed," continued Mr Kashambe.
The disposal of Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe has specifically come under the microscope as it happens hot on the heels of a fresh such transaction in the mining sector between one Australian investor and a Chinese business entity.
Once again the said transaction which saw Chinese Zheijiang Huayou Cobalt seal a US$422 million deal to purchase the lucrative Arcadia Hard-Rock Lithium Mine from Australian miner Prospect Resources came as a shock to the empowerment group.
The Arcadia transaction happened without knowledge or participation of local businesses to ensure that a portion of the business falls into the hands of local business people.
AAG is against total ownership of strategic businesses by foreign owned entities for obvious reasons economic and national security interests.
It will be appreciated that Zimbabwe has managed to weather the storm in the face of hard economic sanction as a direct results of local participation in major economic sectors such as construction, banking, mining, transportation and agriculture.
As such government is urged to consider enacting a law that compels foreign owned businesses to extend the right of first refusal to local businesses when disposing of or selling their stake in local companies.
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