A critical review of the new Zimbabwean corporate rescue law

Abstract

This work critically reviews the new law in Zimbabwe on Corporate Rescue as provided for in the Insolvency Act [Chapter 6: 07]. Zimbabwe has had a Corporate Rescue regime in the Companies Act [Chapter 24:03] in form of Judicial Management as first provided for in the 1951 Companies Act and further developed over the years. This concept was borrowed from the South African Companies Act of 1925. Although historically both the South African and Zimbabwean Company Laws have been based on English Company Law, this concept of judicial management was alien to English Law. The revision of our Insolvency Law in the last few years led to the enactment of a new consolidated Insolvency Law that also provides for the modern concept of corporate rescue while the new Companies and Other Business Entities Act [Chapter 24: 31] which came come into effect on 18 February 2020 no longer provides for corporate insolvency. We seek to unpack the new law on this subject measuring it against normative theories on Corporate Rescue. In other words, we will look at the philosophy behind the “rescue culture” and endeavour to see if the new law helps facilitate companies achieve the intended goals of Corporate Rescue. Key features of Corporate Rescue Law will be analysed in detail.