In a tacit acknowledgement of the government's mishandling of NOCZIM Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma said that the new firms would be open to both local and foreign investors, telling journalists: "In terms of partners being local or foreign it's immaterial ... all we want are investors and their money. A business venture with sound capital is far better operational wise than one with no money," the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper reported Friday.

Mangoma added that no time frame had been set on the search for partners, noting that "the government is going ahead with the project at the same time seeking partners" and while "several companies have shown interest in the project," no definite bids had been submitted.

Mangoma, who is a senior member of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change party, said the reform of NOCZIM followed the government's conclusion that it wasn't viable for NOCZIM to be both a regulator and a player.

NOCZIM's reform is an element in the unity government of Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe to privatize and make commercially viable state companies currently losing money that need Treasury intervention to save them from collapse.

The NOCZIM reform isn't the government's first attempt to privatize loss-making government businesses. In November the government sold its controlling stake in the state's Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company to India's Essar Group in a deal believed to be worth nearly $500 million.

Mangoma added that the government was yet to decide exactly how much investment it would require from potential investors to invest into the oil trading company formed from NOCZIM, saying, "The partner for the infrastructure company will be taken in on an operational basis and they will be assisting in the stock management of the company. For the trading one we are looking for an equity partner though we are yet to come up with the actual figure of the kind of investment we require."

According to Mangoma, there are up to eight other government-controlled entities that are earmarked for immediate privatization or restructuring.

Under the government's privatization plan for NOCZIM, one of the new entities would solely be responsible for national fuel depots and infrastructure with its primary agenda being managing the importation of petroleum products through different modes, including the Beira pipeline running from Mozambique to Zimbabwe, while the second firm would be devoted to fuel retailing.

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