In an effort to position micro, small and medium enterprises as the engine room of Zimbabwe’s green energy transition, Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Senator Monica Mutsvangwa has declared that the country’s lithium reserves, the largest in Africa, offer a strategic opportunity for MSMEs to actively participate in the global electric vehicle supply chain under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Speaking at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, the Minister told delegates that Zimbabwe can “strategically position itself within the green energy revolution, becoming a hub where our MSMEs actively participate and benefit under the AfCFTA framework.”
“We have one of the largest reserves of lithium in the world,” Mutsvangwa said, pointing to the mineral’s critical role in battery storage and electric vehicle manufacturing.
Attributing the surge in gold production to President Mnangagwa’s policies, the Minister said the same formula—creating an enabling environment for small-scale operators—must be applied to lithium and other green minerals.
“Zimbabwe is on record production of gold. This only happened when the President created an environment where small and medium enterprises in mining could thrive,” Mutsvangwa said. “Today, 60 percent of the gold, which is expected to be more than 50 tonnes a year, is coming from SMEs.”
For lithium, a similar formalisation pathway could bring thousands of artisanal lithium diggers, currently operating on the fringes of large-scale mining concessions, into the regulated value chain, as the Minister’s framing implicitly suggests.
Official data confirm Zimbabwe’s lithium reserves at an estimated 126 million metric tonnes, ranking the country sixth globally, trailing only Australia, Chile, Argentina, China and Brazil. Bikita Minerals alone holds proven reserves estimated at 1.7 million tonnes of lithium oxide, while the Sandawana Mine in Mberengwa has emerged as one of the world’s highest-grade lithium pegmatite deposits.
The Minister’s focus on SME lithium participation aligns with Statutory Instrument 5 of 2020, which bans unbeneficiated raw ore exports. The policy has already catalysed major investments in lithium hydroxide conversion plants in Fort Rixon, Bikita and Goromonzi, positioning Zimbabwe as a future supplier of battery-grade materials for the electric vehicle supply chain.
Mutsvangwa stressed that large-scale mining operations must create deliberate supply chain linkages that extend beyond exclusive contracts with established suppliers.
“Large-scale investors create opportunities for supply chains, subcontracting, skills transfer and broader market access. What is needed is a deliberate linkage model that connects big producers to MSMEs so that industrial growth does not remain concentrated in a few places but spreads across the country and reaches rural communities,” she said.
The Minister identified specialised functions that could be outsourced to trained SMEs, including manufacturing and fabrication, logistics and transport, maintenance and component production, as well as assembly and packaging operations.
The Minister pointed to the Manhize Dinson Iron and Steel Company as an example of how large-scale industry can drive SME growth, noting that cheaper domestic steel allows local metal fabricators to retain more profit. To participate in formal supply chains, Mutsvangwa said MSMEs must meet industry standards, highlighting the importance of certification by the Standards Association of Zimbabwe.
The Minister acknowledged that access to finance remains the single largest barrier to SME growth, noting that the Zimbabwe Women’s Microfinance Bank requires recapitalisation. She also pointed to emerging digital technologies, including Starlink and Chinese satellite mobile phone services, as critical enablers for rural enterprises, alongside the COMESA Simplified Trade Regime for cross-border trade.
Mutsvangwa framed these industrial linkages within the context of the AfCFTA, which she noted opens access to a market of over 1.3 billion people with a combined GDP exceeding US$3.4 trillion. Through the Ministry’s partnership with ZimTrade and support from UNDP and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, nationwide capacity-building programmes on AfCFTA opportunities have been rolled out.
In the last year, the Ministry supported Zimbabwean entrepreneurs to participate in expos in Botswana, Malawi, Equatorial Guinea, Tanzania and Zambia.
