The Zimbabwe Mining Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, mining associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on Zimbabwe's mining industry.
Indigenization and Empowerment Act suspended for now!
In a dramatic policy U-turn, the Zimbabwean government has now stated that its controversial Indigenization and Empowerment Act which originally called for a 51% stake in all mining companies (with assets over US$500,000) to be divested to indigenous Zimbabwean groups within a five-year period has been suspended until the local economy recovers.
A December 2010 report on Zimbabwe's NewsDay website quoted Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube as saying that until such a time when the economy recovers and rebuilds capacity, its not possible for every sector to achieve 51% (minimum indigenisation equity).
The move appears to have come as a surprise to most observers of the Zimbabwean political scene, as the 51% stake had been a key part of official government policy in recent years. However, it does now greatly improve the operating environment for foreign mining companies looking to enter Zimbabwe, as it paves the way for them to take majority stakes in indigenous operations.
**How long will the suspension last is my question, I guess. Any of the long term holders who are more familiar with the issue are welcome to join this discussion. I am looking to invest here, but just want to get a sense of this issue.
Note. $114.81 billion: Value of trade between China and Africa (2010)
43.5%: Year-on-year growth in two-way trade (2010)
45: Number of African countries China has signed bilateral trade agreements with
$9.33 billion: Amount of Chinese direct investment in Africa by the end of 2009
5,000: Number of scholarships the Chinese government offers to students from African countries each year
4,700: Number of taxable items which China has exempted from tariffs if they come from the least-developed countries in Africa (as of July 2010)
500: Number of infrastructure projects China has provided assistance for in Africa. (By the end of 2009)
$10 billion: Amount China has promised in preferential loans to Africa (2010-2012)
Sources: China's Information Office of the State Council
E.g., Zimbabwe again could be in line for a windfall of up to $10bn (£6.19bn) from China, a potentially huge boost to its economy, its ministers have claimed.
But such an investment would be likely to heighten concerns about president Robert Mugabe's increasingly warm relationship with China, which has been accused of turning a blind eye to human rights violations across Africa.
Zimbabwe's coalition government is putting up a united front on the issue, however, insisting that Chinese investment in mining and agriculture could help turn the economy around.
Tapiwa Mashakada, a government minister and member of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), told Reuters on Monday: "We have met with officials from China Development Bank and they have said they are willing to invest up to $10bn in Zimbabwe."
The sum would dwarf Zimbabwe's gross domestic product, expected to be about $6bn (£3.72bn) this year.
Mashakada, the minister of economic planning and investment promotion, told a conference in Harare that he expected Zimbabwe to produce about 1.5m tonnes of maize in 2011, up from 1.3m last year. He saw gold production hitting 13 tonnes in 2011, up from 8.3 tonnes in 2010.
Zimbabwe also has the world's second biggest platinum reserves and hugely controversial deposits of alluvial diamonds.
China is "looking into mining development, that is exploration and exploitation, agriculture, infrastructure development and information communication technology", Mashakada said. "The Chinese are now moving towards strict due diligence, accountability and transparency. At the end of the day this really depends on us, how we position ourselves as a destination for investment. China is coming in a very big way." The announcement could be aimed at trying to prod western investors to sink more money into Zimbabwe out of fear they will lose ground to China.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
