Nyanga South legislator in the National Assembly, Supa Mandiwanzira, has urged the Government of Zimbabwe to consider reserving gaming, casinos, and other gambling-related businesses for locals.
According to Mandiwanzira, the gaming and gambling industry does not improve the economy, but is instead a way for foreigners to take money out of the country. He argued that these businesses should be run by locals so that the money remains in Zimbabwe.
Casinos are basically gambling facilities, are part of the tourism sector, and are often built near, or combined with, hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping outlets, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions.
Zimbabwe has had an unfortunate situation where several foreign businesspeople come to operate in the country but take the proceeds back to their home countries.
Some of these businesses do not use the country’s banking systems and operate mainly on a cash basis, while also preferring the United States dollar over the local ZiG (Zimbabwe Gold).
Speaking in the National Assembly a few weeks ago, Mandiwanzira, who owns ZiFM, said allowing foreigners to come and run casinos gives them an opportunity to harm the country’s economy.
‘’Several other areas have been specifically mentioned in a Cabinet communiqué related to retail shops, wholesale and others. They do not seem to have been included in the Bill. The Bill is looking at gaming, for instance and taxes around gaming. The Indigenisation Bill should consider adding such businesses to those reserved for locals.
‘’When you have foreigners coming to run a casino, there is no productivity in a casino. A casino does not improve the economy, but this is a way to take money out of the country. So, why should we not put gaming, gambling and the running of casinos into areas that are reserved specifically for locals, because it is more about money continuing to circulate in the economy?
‘’To allow outsiders to come and run casinos gives them an opportunity to harm the economy, as they take out the US dollars that are in existence because there is no new money they are creating by running a casino.
‘’I would therefore propose that the Bill looks at adding some areas, such as water bottling, for instance. Why do we need people flying thousands of kilometers to come and bottle water in this country? This must be reserved again for locals and I propose that this be included in this Bill,’’ he said.
The legislator added that he recently met a foreigner who had been granted a licence to run a scratch-card lotto business, arguing that it is a sad development that will not bring any investment into the country.
‘’Recently, I bumped into a foreigner who had been granted a license to run a scratch-card lotto. Foreigners are being given a licence to run a scratch-card lotto but there is no investment; it is simply printing scratch-cards.
‘’So, they can print, take some US dollars, pocket and leave the country. In my view, these are areas that must be reserved for locals because there is no productivity associated with creating new money in running a lotto. There is no new money that is being created,’’ he said.
In Zimbabwe, casinos offer a variety of games, including slot machines, blackjack, roulette, poker, and baccarat, among others.
Zimbabwe recently published a list of businesses that have been reserved for locals, and foreigners operating in those businesses have been given a timeframe to dispose of a majority shareholding to locals.
