Accountability Lab Zimbabwe has warned that concealed company ownership could expose public procurement to corruption, conflicts of interest and money laundering.
The organisation raised the concerns during its first Beneficial Ownership Transparency (BOT) Learning Circle in Harare on Tuesday, where journalists, civil society organisations and community activists examined how hidden ownership affects government contracts and public service delivery.
Accountability Lab Zimbabwe Senior Programmes Officer Thulani Collins Mswelanto said identifying the individuals who ultimately own, control or profit from companies was key to improving transparency in public spending.
“The name on a company’s paperwork is not always the person who owns, controls, or profits from it,” he said.
Mswelanto explained how nominee shareholders, front companies and complex corporate structures could be used to conceal company ownership across borders.
Journalists also shared insights into how hidden ownership complicates investigations into corruption and money laundering.
Representing Amukela Advisory, Tendai Kundishora outlined Zimbabwe’s legal framework on beneficial ownership, highlighting gaps between existing laws and their implementation.
Kundishora said discussions about the beneficiaries of public funds were often limited to experts restricting wider public participation.
“Debates about who benefits from public money are too often left to a few experts and pitched at a technical level that shuts others out,” he said.
He said greater public participation in beneficial ownership transparency could help strengthen accountability.
“Opening up BOT is how we crowd in often-left-behind groups and show that this agenda belongs to all of us,” he said.
The learning circle aimed to encourage collective action to improve beneficial ownership transparency and strengthen scrutiny of public contracts.
The initiative was supported by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, the Embassy of Canada to Zimbabwe, Malawi and Botswana and Open Ownership.