HJ Heinz has sold its 49% stake in Olivine, Zimbabwe’s leading cooking oil producer, to a company with strong state links, according to local reports.
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The news agency Reuters said that Heinz had sold the stake for US$6.8m to Agro-processing company Cotton Company of Zimbabwe (Cottco). Cottco was state-owned until its privatisation in 1997 and the government still holds the largest single stake in the business. The Olivine deal was facilitated by a government-owned investment group, the report said.
Zimbabwe is currently being ravaged by an economic crisis with inflation above 7,600%. President Mugabe’s government has accused some businesses of halting production in a plot to undermine the inflation-ravaged economy and Mugabe has said he wants to give locals Zimbabweans greater control over foreign-owned assets.
