Politicians furious about sale of Barclays Bank Zimbabwe to Malawi
After years of bank collapses in Zimbabwe, the rare good news that a bank has been sold rather than closed should have brought some cheer. But London-based Barclays’s sale of Barclays Bank Zimbabwe to Malawi’s First Merchant Bank (FMB) earlier in June, has received an unenthusiastic response. Politicians in Zimbabwe are seething over the transaction — estimated at about $60m — which they argue flouts the indigenisation law. Kudzai Chipanga, Zanu (PF)’s youth leader, asked President Robert Mugabe earlier in June at a rally in Marondera to have the bank’s sale reversed in order to allow for indigenous shareholders to place their bids. "We are worried that Barclays is being bought by a foreign company instead of locals," Chipanga said. "This raises the risk of foreigners sabotaging us. We want to ask if there is nothing the government can do to be able to buy the Barclays stake in line with indigenisation laws. We have banks such as CBZ and we have to look at other ways on how we can h...
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