EMPOWERMENT lobby group, the Affirmative Action Group (AAG) has warned the Harare City Council against awarding retail trading licences to Chinese and Indian businesses claiming this contravened the country’s indigenisation laws.

AAG President, Supa Mandiwanzira, wrote to the council saying his organisation was concerned about the large presence of foreign nationals applying for permits to operate businesses in sectors reserved for locals.

“Harare City Council has an obligation to uphold this law and in practice, it requires them to say no to all applications that fall outside the provisions of the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act.

“We strongly believe that any further isolation and marginalisation of the indigenous people by willfully granting licenses against the letter and spirit of the law, may lead to unnecessary hostility between locals and foreign nationals,” Mandiwanzira wrote.

The AAG chief said his organization welcomed foreign investors but only in areas reserved for such investment under the country’s laws.

The letter cited six applications that appeared to have been submitted by individuals of Chinese and Indian origin.

While the Zimbabwe government aggressively promoted a so-called look-East policy in the wake of strained relations with the West, locals have expressed concern over the influx of Asian businesses and products and their impact on local companies.

“We have seen an aggressive entry and expansion into the reserved areas by foreign nationals and in nearly all situations, the existing local entrepreneurs suffer serious set backs due to predatory pricing.

“There is also a major problem that this creates particularly when these foreign owned shops are bringing into the country goods that we can make very safely and to acceptable standards in our own back yard,” Mandiwanzira said.

He urged the council to throw out all the applications and claimed that the applicants were also contributing to corruption by offering officials “offering incentives that are illegal”.

“Our members fear that a lot of business opportunities are now being offered in the market place to the highest bidder.

“No institution or individual should be allowed to exclude the indigenous people from business by any means other than a fair and equitable system,” the letter added.