ZIMBABWE Law and Practice Contributed by: Nikita Madya and Chantele Sibanda, Wintertons
Solar, New Glovers Solar, and Great Zimbabwe Hydro Power. There are over 40 captive power producers gener- ating both renewable and non-renewable energy for own consumption. These include Manhize Resources (50 MW), Nottingham Estate (2.25 MW), Hippo Valley Estates (39 MW), Triangle Estates (35 MW), Green Fuel (18.30 MW), Zimbabwe Platinum Mines (35 MW) and Caledonia Mine (12.2 MW). 1.3 Foreign Investment Review Process The Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) is the country’s investment promotion body, set up to promote foreign direct investment, local invest- ment and the government’s decentralisation policy. It is established in terms of the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency Act (Chapter 14:38) (the “ZIDA Act”). The ZIDA Act establishes a one-stop investment shop dealing with all issues to do with investment in Zimbabwe. It has a desk representing ZERA for those interested in investing in the energy sector. Any person wishing to invest in Zimbabwe may obtain an investment licence from ZIDA in order to enjoy the protections and privileges accorded under the terms of the ZIDA Act. These include: • the right to invest in all sectors of the economy except the sectors reserved under the terms of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act (Chapter 14:33); • guarantees against expropriation, except for public purposes after due process of the law in a non-dis- criminatory manner following payment of adequate and prompt compensation; • equitable and fair treatment of all investors; • non-discrimination between foreign and local investors; • non-discrimination between foreign investors; • transparency in the treatment of investors; • the right to freely move funds subject to tax obliga- tions; and • the right to employ senior expatriate staff in Zimba- bwe. The power industry is accorded the same invest- ment protections as other sectors of the economy.
The Constitution of Zimbabwe protects private prop- erty and prohibits the expropriation of property with- out compensation. Section 71 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe provides that every person has the right in any part of Zimbabwe to acquire, hold, occupy, use, transfer, hypothecate, lease or dispose of all forms of property, either individually or in association with others. The compulsory acquisition of property is only allowed where: • the law permitting it is of general application; and • the deprivation is necessary: • in the interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, or town and country planning; or • to develop or use that or any other property for purposes that are beneficial to the community. The person affected must be given reasonable notice by the acquiring authority to be paid fair and adequate compensation before the property is acquired or with- in a reasonable time after the acquisition, and – if the acquisition is contested – to apply to a competent court before the purchase of the property or no later than 30 days after the purchase for an order confirm- ing the transaction. Additionally, any person whose property is acquired is entitled to apply to a compe- tent court for the determination of matters relating to the acquisition, including the amount of compensation to which they are entitled. These rights do not apply where agricultural land is involved. Agricultural land compensation is provided for improvements only. Zimbabwe has also signed bilateral investment pro- motion and protection agreements (BIPPAs) with sev- eral countries for the reciprocal protection of invest- ments. Additional protections are also available under these agreements. The specific protections vary from country to country. Access to domestic courts is guaranteed under the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Additionally, Zimbabwe adopted (with amendments) the Model Law on Inter- national Commercial Arbitration followed by the Unit- ed Nations Commission on International Trade Law on 21 June 1985 to give effect to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards taken up in New York on 10 June 1958 (the
477 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook