ZIMBABWE is not in a position to liberalise domestic gold
marketing and buying as this will negatively affect the flow of foreign
currency into the economy, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) deputy governor Dr
Kupukile Mlambo has said.
He was responding to calls by the Zimbabwe Miners
Federation (ZMF) at the recent annual mining indaba who demanded an end to the
monopoly of Fidelity Printers and Refiners.
Fidelity is an RBZ subsidiary and sole gold buyer in the
country. Miners contend that the
centralised gold buying system does not give them fair value for earnings and
want Fidelity to compete with other players.
They also claim the monopoly is to blame for the sprouting
of illicit gold trading on the parallel market and smuggling.
In an interview on the sidelines of a Sadc-Development
Finance Institutions (Sadc-DFIs) forum hosted by the Sadc-Development Resource
Centre, which ended here last Friday, Dr Mlambo said the call to liberalise the
sector was not new.
“This is not the first time the call has come. An attempt
to liberalise selling of gold was made between 2009 and 2013 but we realised
that in terms of mobilisation of foreign currency, it was difficult because all
sectors are supported by the mineral sector especially gold,” he said.
“In my view, I think it is premature now to start thinking
that we can liberalise the sector. What is important for me is that we ensure
that the small-scale gold miners are paid a fair price, which is as close to
the international price as possible and that they get other support, which we
are giving them under the small-scale gold miners’ facility.”
ZMF president Ms Henrietta Rushwaya had said the monopoly
by Fidelity Printers was opening up the gold mining sector to exploitation of
players hence the need to formalise the small-scale mining sector.
She said the country has about 30 000 registered players
and more than 1,5 million unregistered small-scale miners.
Stakeholders have also stressed the need to regularise and
speedily formalise the small-scale gold mining sector to harness all the output
into mainstream production.
Gold mining contributes significantly to the economy in
terms of export receipts and jobs.
The gold mining industry targets to produce 100 tonnes per
year by 2023 to contribute to the envisaged $12 billion mining sector earnings
by 2030.
Meanwhile, Sadc-DFIs conference ended on a high note here
amid calls for respective countries to capacitate development finance
institutions to collectively address climate change risks.
All Sadc countries were represented at the forum held under
the banner of the Sadc Development Finance Resource Centre (Sadc-DFRC). The
common message was anchored on the need to come up with strategies to encourage
every institution’s participation in green financing to address climate change
related calamities such as cyclones and disasters.
Sadc-DFRC chief executive Mr Stuart Kufeni said the
gathering recommended that every member state should address policy issues to
create a conducive environment for finance institutions to embrace green
financing.
“This is a forum to share experiences and discuss these
issues as they cut across sectors from SMEs to big institutions. What came out
is that there are parameters that we need to address if we are to effectively
harness and be able to move on to green financing.
“There are issues of regulation and policy environment to
ensure that we have a conducive environment so that we can green our economies.
The DFIs from different countries have to take these recommendations home and
be in a position to also implement in their own countries,” said Mr Kufeni.
Dr Mlambo officially opened the conference where he said
Zimbabwe was working on a framework that will guide the country’s financial
sector to adopt sustainable green financing principles.
The Sadc-DFRC has 41 certified DFIs.
Membership of the DFIs network is as prescribed by a Sadc
protocol structure made up of Ministers of Finance and Investment and is
confined to those that are Government owned and established through a policy
targeted at developing specific sectors of the economy. Chronicle
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