US officials have admitted that targeted sanctions against individuals in Zimbabwe could affect investments in that country, but said they were willing “to always speak to businesses or work with those who fear that our sanctions are getting in the way of legitimate business activity”.

Sanctions co-ordinator for the US department of state James O’Brien told a briefing on the topic of Zimbabwean sanctions that one of the reasons companies might decide not to get involved in “difficult environments” could be “the risk that either new sanctions will be put in place” or a lack of clarity around current sanctions. “But it’s also the case that our sanctions call out behaviours that businesses want to avoid,” he said, such as corruption and the abuse of public services...

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