Zimbabwe has moved to tighten local control of key parts of its economy after formally reserving 14 economic sectors exclusively for its citizens and ordering foreign-owned companies in those industries to hand over majority ownership to locals within three years.
The new measures are contained in Statutory Instrument 215 of 2025, officially titled the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment (Foreign Participation in Reserved Sectors) Regulations, 2025, which was recently gazetted. Under the regulations, foreign investors operating in designated sectors must gradually reduce their shareholding by at least 25% each year until Zimbabweans hold a controlling 75% stake.
According to the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), the law ring-fences a wide range of everyday businesses for local investors. These include passenger transport services such as taxis and buses, barber shops, hairdressing and beauty salons, bakeries, employment agencies, advertising agencies, tobacco grading and packaging, artisanal mining, borehole drilling and pharmaceutical retailing.
ZBC also reported that estate agencies, clearing and customs services, shipping and freight forwarding, as well as haulage and logistics, fall under the new framework. In these sectors, foreign participation will only be permitted under strict conditions or through recognised international brands and franchise arrangements.
State-owned daily The Herald reported that foreign-owned companies already operating in reserved sectors have been given a three-year window to comply with the regulations. Businesses that are not compliant are required to submit regularisation plans within 30 days of the law being gazetted.
The paper said the regulations clearly set out that affected firms must divest at least 25% of their shareholding each year, ensuring that locals eventually take control with a 75% stake. Authorities have also been given powers to act against companies that try to bypass the law.
The Herald further reported that the regulations criminalise attempts to evade compliance, including the use of fronting arrangements. Regulators are empowered to suspend or cancel licences of businesses that fail to regularise their ownership structures within the prescribed timeframes.
While many sectors are now fully reserved, the government has left limited room for foreign participation in certain capital-intensive industries. According to the regulations cited by The Herald, sectors such as retail and wholesale trade, grain milling, haulage and logistics, and shipping and forwarding may still allow foreign involvement, but only if strict investment and employment thresholds are met.
The government says the policy is aimed at protecting low-barrier industries from foreign dominance while expanding local participation and ownership across the economy, as part of a broader push to empower Zimbabwean entrepreneurs and workers.
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