Story by Josephine Mugiyo, Diplomatic Correspondent
AS Zimbabwe advances the implementation of the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), the mining sector is expected to play a central role in driving economic growth, supported by a deliberate shift towards value addition and domestic beneficiation of mineral resources.
Mining remains one of the country’s largest contributors to gross domestic product and foreign currency earnings. In recent years, Government policy has increasingly prioritised local processing of minerals as a means of expanding industrial capacity, creating jobs and improving returns from the country’s natural resource base.
This approach reflects President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s repeated calls for African countries to move away from the export of raw minerals and instead capture greater value within their own economies.
Across key minerals such as lithium, gold and platinum, the emphasis has shifted towards beneficiation before export, in line with broader industrialisation and economic transformation objectives under NDS2.
One of the most prominent examples of this transition is the Dinson Iron and Steel Company (DISCO) project in Manhize, which has established integrated processing operations that convert locally mined iron ore into finished steel products. The project has created employment for about 3 000 people, underscoring the link between value addition and job creation.
DISCO project director Engineer Wilfred Motsi said the company had aligned its operations with Government’s beneficiation policy.
“In the lithium sector, Dinson Iron and Steel company is one of the pioneer companies which supported and has been pro-active to the call by the President that we should value add. We are mining iron ore but we are not exporting it as raw material. We have pig iron which is further value added to produce pig billets. We are no longer importing but now producing steel bars. We have created over 3 000 employees due to value addition,” DISCO’s project director, Engineer Wilfred Motsi said.
Economic analyst Mr Mallon Gwadu said the broader benefits of value addition extend beyond individual projects.
“On the macro-economic front, we benefit from employment , downstream industry and the tax base is widened and economic growth is achieved,” he said.
President Mnangagwa has consistently argued that Africa must assert greater control over its mineral resources to ensure meaningful development outcomes.
“When you have a mineral, you can only want to part with it at a cost to the one who wants your mineral. If someone wants your mineral and he is not paying any cost, he cannot have it. So we make sure that when we take our minerals out, we benefit from the resources that God gave us. We can not just allow foreign countries to come and exploit our resources without benefit from minerals. That, of course, could have happened in the past, but the current crop of leaders in Africa would not allow it,” the President has said.
As Zimbabwe pursues its target of becoming an upper middle-income economy by 2030, the mining sector is expected to remain a key driver of growth.
