DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe made a surprise showing at Africa's biggest business meeting on Thursday to appeal for investment alongside other members of the fractious coalition government.
Mugabe dismissed investor worries over new ownership laws which are designed to ensure that black Zimbabweans hold a stake of at least 51 percent in all companies and which have strained the unity government.
"People have said it will drive away investment. We say it won't," Mugabe said at the World Economic Forum for Africa.
"Companies have been forthcoming ... I don't think it's a painful thing for them. Forty-nine percent is a lot," he told reporters.
Mugabe took the stage at the World Economic Forum for Africa with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, an old rival who joined him in a unity government last year, and Arthur Mutambara, the third member of the coalition.
Zimbabwe's economy grew last year for the first time in a decade after the scrapping of a near worthless local currency and the political agreement.