Mugabe explains controversial indigenisation policy

Harare - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday told a visiting French delegation that his controversial indigenisation policy "only relates to resource-based operations", the ZBC broadcaster said.

The law, which came into effect in 2010, obliges foreign and white-owned businesses with a net worth of more than $500 000 to hand over 51% of their shares to local black businesspeople.

Shops and businesses currently have to produce indigenisation compliance certificates before they are licensed to operate each year.

"The [French] delegation held a meeting with President Robert Mugabe at State House in Harare and applauded him for fully explaining that the policy only relates to resource-based operations," the broadcaster said on its website.

Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the clarification would attract more foreign investment.

Mugabe left Harare later on Wednesday for an AU summit in Addis Ababa, where he is expected to be appointed the continental bloc's new chair.