Story by Bruce Chahwanda
THE Government’s directive to ban the export of raw minerals is expected to accelerate value addition and beneficiation, creating employment opportunities and advancing Zimbabwe’s industrialisation agenda.
Anchored in economic blueprints such as the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), the policy underscores a shift towards processing minerals locally to maximise economic returns.
The move is anticipated to spur the establishment of beneficiation centres across the country, positioning the mining sector as a key driver of job creation.
Deputy Chief Secretary for Presidential Communications in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Mr George Charamba said the policy is designed to retain value within the domestic economy.
“We have disallowed mineral ores from being sent abroad in their raw form. What that means is, impliedly we have insisted that those minerals must be processed at home. But once they are processed, that is not the end result. We want now to see how that processed product feeds into our industrial and industrialisation ambition as a nation, which means in respect of practically every mineral, we must have a value-addition chain which translates into an industry.”
He said exporting raw minerals effectively results in the export of jobs and lost revenue potential.
“When we allow our mineral ores to go abroad in their raw form, we are doing several things. We are prejudicing ourselves to the extent that we are sending an unpurified resource, which may in fact contain many other mineral elements, to a foreign destination. Geologically, Zimbabwe is in a unique position where you never have any one mineral existing singly. All our minerals always co-exist in a mineral ore body, which means you find your gold, silver, iron, aluminium, lithium in this one ore body.”
Mr Charamba also highlighted the role of the informal sector in economic transformation, describing it as a legitimate component of the economy.
“If you have an informal sector in any economy, it means there is someone who has found a niche which they are exploiting to provide a service. So you can’t criminalise it. I’m so happy that this time around, Government has been very clear to say that the informal sector is a legitimate player,” he said.
The ban, effected last month, covers a range of minerals, including lithium concentrate, which is in high demand on the global automobile market.
