President Robert Mugabe's government is seeking to transfer majority control of ‘public companies and any other business’ to black Zimbabweans.
Critics say the move could deepen the country's economic crisis.
A bill the government made public today will be presented to parliament proposing indigenous black Zimbabweans will get at least a 51% share of those companies.
Although it is not clear how private companies will be affected, analysts say the move is likely to further damage investor confidence in the country, which is suffering from the world's highest inflation rate and severe food, fuel and foreign currency shortages.
Indigenisation & Economic Empowerment Bill
Parliament is expected to approve the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Bill, which stipulates that no company restructuring, merger or acquisition would be approved unless 51% of the business would be in the hands of indigenous Zimbabweans.
The Empowerment Bill defines indigenous Zimbabweans as any person who was disadvantaged by unfair discrimination on the grounds of race before independence in 1980.
The southern African country is in the grips of an economic recession, now in its eighth year, with four out of five Zimbabweans out of work.
Critics blame the economic meltdown on President Mugabe's economic policies, such as the seizing of white-owned farms to resettle blacks, which they say devastated the crucial agriculture sector and triggered the recession.
The breakdown of the economy has heightened political tensions. Mr Mugabe has responded by cracking down on the opposition, drawing fresh international attention to his controversial rule.
But the 83-year-old leader denies his policies are at fault and instead points the finger at Western sanctions.
