The indigenisation in Zimbabwe is not nationalisation, a government official from that country said in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

"Indigenisation is not nationalisation. It is not forced on an investor," Prince Mupazviriho, permanent secretary of the ministry of mines in Zimbabwe, told the Africa Mining Congress.

"You find your own partner and you come up with your own structure on how you need to do it.

"A perception has been created that if an investor comes to invest to Zimbabwe, the moment the investor touches down, he is surrendering 51 percent of that investment. No, that is not the case."

Mupazviriho said investors were expected to identify a local partner and come up with their own arrangement.

"The aspiration is that it must be 51 (percent local-owned) and 49 (percent foreign-owned)."

Mupazviriho said indigenisation was done for the benefit of people living near mining projects.

The Mail&Guardian reported in March that the controversial law orders foreign-owned companies, such as mines, banks and retailers, to submit plans on how they will give up a majority share to locals. The government had however not explained how the process would be undertaken.