Zimbabwe’s Securities Commission proposes listing all miners to improve transparency

Zimbabwe’s capital markets regulator is pushing to have all miners operating in the country list on the local bourse to improve transparency and accountability in the extractive sector.

Mining generates half of Zimbabwe’s export earnings and contributes about 17 percent of GDP but the sector largely remains shrouded in secrecy, with little or no disclosures being made on revenue and production.

Zimbabwe hosts operations of some of the world’s biggest mining corporations such as Implats, Aquarius, Metallon but none of them are listed locally.

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange’s mining index only has four counters – RioZim, Hwange Colliery, Falgold and Bindura Nickel Corporation – compared to 57 on the Industrial index.

Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe (SECZ) head of corporate finance, Kundai Msemburi said that they had made proposals to the finance ministry to compel mining houses to list locally.

“In our submissions to government we are saying let’s shed light on these mining companies and one way of doing that is listing locally because it compels enhanced disclosure as these companies will comply in terms of corporate governance, community development and all other social responsibilities,” he said.

“Allow the stock exchange to be the conduit through which you indigenize all these companies in a transparent manner.”

In February this year government shut down miners operating in the country’s Chiadzwa diamond fields after they had resisted proposals to consolidate all the companies into one entity in which the government would have 50 percent shareholding.

Government has strongly argued that consolidation of the diamond mines would improve transparency in the sector after accusing the mines of failing to account for revenue and contribute meaningfully to the fiscus.

In the five years of mining since 2010 Mines Minister Walter Chidhakwa earlier this year said government had only received $637.3 million in revenue from the miners.-The Source

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