Story by Josephine Mugiyo, Diplomatic Correspondent
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has challenged players in the mining sector to strive for excellence as the sector expands in line with national development goals.
He said this as he officially opened the 27th edition of the Mining, Engineering and Transport Expo (Mine Entra) in Bulawayo this Thursday.
The Zimbabwean mining sector is on an expansion drive anchored on new investments, hence the focus on striving for excellence to meet economic development goals in line with Vision 2030.
As he officially opened Zimbabwe’s premier mining showcase in Bulawayo this Thursday President Emmerson Mnangagwa placed emphasis on the need to adapt to new technologies to boost production and improve quality.
“More companies, professionals and stakeholders in the field recognise that the key to staying competitive and sustainable lies in the ability to adopt new technologies that boost process efficiency and resource optimisation. These technologies ensure the exploitation of new and more complex mineral deposits and increase productivity and precision in exploration and extraction processes. This allows for remote operations, reduced waste, improved equipment utilisation as well as lower maintenance costs, among others. The urgent challenge, therefore, is not only to produce more but to also produce better. The benefits of mining should extend beyond mere extractive processes to positively impact communities and the planet as a whole. To ensure long-term viability, innovation has a critical role in the mining sector and must be scaled up. The innovation and technology nexus should result in not only improved efficiencies, reduced costs and adherence to the concerns of communities and regulatory authorities but the accelerated industrialisation and modernisation of our country,” he said.
The conversation on value addition is ongoing among players in the mining sector, with President Mnangagwa saying bold decisions should be taken to ensure this is swiftly attained.
“Localised value chains must stimulate long-term economic growth, diversification and regional development through value-added processing and manufacturing. Bold decisions must be taken within the sector for the requisite transformative upward and downstream linkages to speed up the expansion of mineral beneficiation and value addition. In this regard, mining houses are challenged to strengthen synergies with suppliers, inclusive of institutions of higher learning, for the development of technological solutions, methods, and techniques in mining projects and operations,” he added.
The Head of State also assured the mining sector of the government’s support as he said the doors are open for conversations based on improving operations.
The Second Republic will continue to leverage the mining sector to support broader industrial and technological advancements. The mining sector is welcome to dialogue with my Government to improve the environment, guided by global trends as well as the needs of our economy and communities. Policy frameworks which provide incentives for linkage development and catalyse investments in skills development and access to capital, among others, will be constantly reviewed. Additional incentives and support will also be provided to companies that invest in local beneficiation and value addition,” explained the President
Mine Entra remains a key platform for conversations on improving operations in the mining and transportation sectors.
