Zimbabwe is being punished in various ways, including the
imposition of sanctions by its Western detractors, for having a huge mineral
resource base, President Mnangagwa has said.
The President said this while addressing delegates at the
inaugural Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners Conference organised by the Zimbabwe
Miners’ Federation (ZMF) in Gweru.
He said the current economic hardships were engineered by
Western detractors keen on exploiting the over 40 different minerals in the
country.
“This country, which is between Zambezi and Limpopo rivers,
is so blessed. We are rich in minerals; we have a number of minerals including
rare earth minerals,” he said.
“Only China is the second country to have rare earth
minerals. But being rich in these minerals is the reason why we are in serious
trouble with our detractors.”
President Mnangagwa said the West had a diplomatic fallout
with China and could no longer continue mining and working with the Asian
giant, hence their focus on Zimbabwe.
The United States (US) and the European Union (EU) slapped
Zimbabwe with sanctions in the last two decades without United Nations (UN)
approval and SADC recently urged member states to engage in various activities
on October 25 to call for the immediate removal of the embargo.
President Mnangagwa said his administration would remain
resilient and not allow foreigners to dictate policies. He reiterated the Government’s readiness to work with
genuine foreign investors in the mining sector under a win-win situation.
“We have to agree on terms of operation if we are to work
together because we own the resources. You can’t bring your rules and impose
them on us.
“If that is the case, then our minerals will remain
underground, we treasure them,” he said.
The President said the mining sector was key in Zimbabwe’s
push towards achieving Vision 2030, which aims to turn the country into an
upper middle income economy.
He said the country intends to transform the mining sector
into a US$12 billion sector by 2023, with small-scale miners playing a pivotal
role in achieving the target.
“By 2023 we want a US$12 billion mining economy, but as
Government, we need small-scale miners to achieve this. We need to empower
small-scale miners but for that to happen, give us your input, what do you want
on the ground for us to achieve this vision together?” said the President.
Artisanal and small-scale miners were contributing 60
percent to national mineral exports, hence the need to empower them.
Said the President: “Mining contributes 13 percent of the
national GDP. Small-scale miners also contribute 60 percent of our exports, but
your president (Zimbabwe Miners Federation), Ms Henrietta Rushwaya, raised a
number of challenges which are affecting the sector.
“She asked for chrome weighbridges, among others. They
presented a book and I will study it and see how best we can assist so as to
improve on production. We have started a journey, so let’s walk together until
we achieve our collective vision.”
He condemned reports of corruption within the Ministry of
Mines and Mining Development, and challenged those with names of such corrupt
officials to take them to his office.
“We don’t want corruption, please give us names of those
who are corrupt so that they can be investigated and sent home if found
guilty,” he said. Herald
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