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- The US says the investment climate and human rights record in Uganda are not good for business.
- Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act, according to the US, was bad for freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly and exacerbated issues regarding respect for leases and employment contracts.
- Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's ministry of industry and commerce has warned foreigners against operating in reserved sectors of the economy.
Both Zimbabwe and Uganda this week saw reduced odds of foreign investment inflows, the former voluntarily, the latter less so.
In Uganda's case, the USA cautioned its citizens that their investments were not secure.
The US Department of State issued a business advisory note on Uganda about "potential risks they may face if they are conducting, or contemplating conducting, business in Uganda."
Those included both financial and reputation risks thanks to endemic corruption, the US said. But those are against a backdrop of violence against human rights advocates, members of the media, health professionals, people from minority groups, LGBTQI+ people, and political opponents.
Uganda passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) in May. Under the AHA, the death sentence is mandated for some same-sex offences.
At least six people have been charged with violating the law, including two who are being held on death row for "aggravated homosexuality."
The US and other Western nations threatened to cut aid to Uganda if the law was not reversed.
In the advisory note, the US said the AHA "further increases restrictions on human rights, to include restrictions on freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly and exacerbates issues regarding respect for leases and employment contracts."
READ | Uganda lawmakers pass new draft of anti-gay bill
Locals only in Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, the minister of industry and commerce, Sithembiso Nyoni, discouraged foreigners from involvement in local-only business sectors.
"Retail is a reserved sector for Zimbabweans, but we are not closing foreigners out. If you are a foreigner, there's a certain threshold by which you are allowed to trade; if you are below that threshold, you are breaking the laws of Zimbabwe," she told journalists after touring tuckshops in the capital city of Harare.
Tuckshops are the most popular informal sector in a country with high unemployment.
Under Zimbabwe's Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, reserved sectors include agriculture, transportation, real estate, tobacco grading and packaging, advertising, milk processing, and the sale of regional handicrafts.
Retailers, wholesalers, barbershops, hair salons, beauty parlors, and bakeries are among the other identified sectors.
Since tuck shops are informal, proprietors largely rely on unofficial channels such as Hawalas to move money to suppliers, and they don't follow banking channels.
The minister accused tuck-shop operators of having a "shadow" economy that trades exclusively in foreign currency.
The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
