eBusiness Weekly
Ishemunyoro Chingwere
The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development will purse deliberate policies and strategies that feed into President Mnangagwa’s vision to help quicken Zimbabwe’s aspiration to become a middle income economy by 2030, Minister Winston Chitando has said.
Minister Chitando said this while announcing reconstituted boards for the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) to be chaired by Mimosa Mining Company director Peter Chimbodza and mining engineer Killiam Ukama respectively.
Also on the ZMDC board is banker Wellington Pasipamire, chemist and former Caps Holdings managing director Richard Jaure, Ministry of Mines’ Principal Director Charles Tahwa, Zimasco general manager Reason Mandimuka, former ZCDC director Slava Chella and former Mines Ministry Permanent Secretary David Murangari.
Geologist Ellah Muchemwa has also joined the ZCDC board alongside Mimosa Mining Company’s head of corporate affairs Elizabeth Nerwande Chibanda and former deputy Mines Minister Ambassador Zenzo Nsimbi. Retained at the state diamond mining firm is Colonel Esau Chiadzwa, Rtd Colonel Niya Mtombeni and Alexander Mukwekwezeke.
The boards and other mining arms boards to be reconstituted shortly, Minister Chitando said, will primarily be tasked with making sure the mining sector plays a leading role in helping Zimbabwe achieve middle income status by 2030.
“We have heard the President, His Excellency, talk about Zimbabwe being a middle income economy by the year 2030 and the mining industry will play a very key role in the achievement of this vision,” said Minister Chitando.
“As a result these two boards, plus other boards which will also be appointed, will be seized with executing the key Government objectives of supporting the achievement of this.
“Firstly with ZCDC, which produced 1, 8 million carats last year and in terms of the strategic plan they have, they would want to grow this to at least 10 million carats by the year 2023 and at least 12 million carats by the year 2025.
“(This) is a massive increase in terms of production that is as a minimum – but we would want to see more but it’s really the board which will have to work and see what can be done,” he said.
Minister Chitando said the two boards will also be tasked to make sure all mines are operating at full throttle as capital problems that previously was pegging back the industry have been addressed by the new dispensation that has seen a number of investors coming forward to do business in the country.
“Secondly, the ZMDC board, ZMDC has over 20 assets (mines) which it holds and sadly for a number of reasons the assets are barely operational and largely because of capital constraints but following a raft of measures which have been implemented after the new dispensation, there is now increased appetite by investors to put in money.
“Not only in ZMDC but in the underlying assets, so the new board has to move and move with speed to ensure that all these 20 assets are operational,” said Minister Chitando.
Zimbabwe a Middle Income by 2030
Speaking on the occasion of the official opening of the 59th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) on 27 April 2018, President Mnangagwa said Government is gearing towards the achievement of middle income status by 2030.
“This year’s edition of the ZITF which runs under the theme “Sustainable Industrial Development: Inclusive-Competitive-Collaborative”, resonates well with my Government’s economic thrust which prioritises industrialisation and modernisation as fundamental aspects to sustainable economic growth as envisaged in our Vision 2030,” said the President.
“To attain this vision, to have Zimbabwe become a middle-income country by 2030, decent jobs, broad-based empowerment, increased investments, free from poverty and corruption, certainly requires collaborative efforts from all stakeholders.
“Government, on its part is implementing a plethora of reform measures to increase the viability and competitiveness of business across all sectors.
“In addition, my administration recognises the need for a comprehensive approach to attract both domestic and foreign investment in the quest to leapfrog our economy to be one of the most industrialised economies in Africa,” he said.
