HARARE – The government proposals to compel miners to list the majority of their shares on the local exchange will strangle companies’ ability to invest and grow, according to the country’s biggest producer of platinum.
Bloomberg
Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd sees little interest in a listing among local investors, said Johan Theron, the spokesman for the Johannesburg-based company whose Zimplats unit is Zimbabwe’s biggest platinum producer.
Investors in the country can already trade Zimplats shares listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, he said.
Politicians are debating the proposals in a bill that would also require companies to use 85%of funds raised in a Zimbabwe listing to develop local rights.
Platinum and diamonds are key exports for an economy that’s half the size it was in 2000 following a chaotic and violent land-reform programme under former ruler Robert Mugabe.
“A local primary listing would only be feasible with the requisite in-country capacity to raise the required capital and sustain daily trading volumes in the equity,” Theron said by email.
“Much work still needs to be done before the economy can structurally support this.”
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Impala would study other options to bring in local investment and was working on a community and employee share ownership plan, with each group holding 10% of Zimplats, Theron said.
Separately, Anglo American Platinum, the world’s biggest producer of the metal, said it would seek to work with the government to ensure the law would take account of industry views and lead to growth in the mining industry.
