Zimbabwe’s $4 Billion Sovereign Fund Questioned by Analysts

Zimbabwean Indigenization Minister Saviour Kasukuwere’s assertion that a sovereign wealth fund created from stakes ceded by foreign-owned companies is worth $4 billion was questioned by economists who said the announcement may be aimed at securing votes ahead of elections.

The fund was created after the government compelled foreign-owned companies to sell 51 percent stakes to Zimbabweans under its indigenization program, Kasukuwere said in an interview on Dec. 18. The size of the fund may increase to $5 billion by mid-2013, after the state forces foreign-owned banks to hand over their controlling shareholdings, he said.