Betterbrands Gold has emerged as a significant player in Zimbabwe’s gold value chain, combining substantial gold deliveries with support for artisanal and small-scale miners (ASMs), investment in refining infrastructure and community initiatives that extend beyond its core business.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
The company’s position reflects the growing importance of gold-buying networks in connecting small-scale producers to formal markets, supporting production and contributing to Zimbabwe’s mineral export economy.
Its reported gold deliveries, particularly over the past several years, stand out as a measure of its role in the country’s gold sector, where small-scale mining remains an important source of production.
A major contributor to formal gold deliveries
Betterbrands Gold has established itself among Zimbabwe’s prominent individual gold suppliers to Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR), the country’s state-owned gold buyer.
The company reportedly delivered 14 tonnes of gold in 2021 before increasing its contribution to 18 tonnes in 2022, equivalent to half of the total gold delivered to FGR that year.
In 2023, Betterbrands reportedly delivered 13 tonnes, representing close to half of the 30.1 tonnes recorded in the account for that year. Deliveries were reported at 15 tonnes in 2024, bringing the four-year total to approximately 60 tonnes.
The scale of these deliveries illustrates the company’s position within the formal gold market and the importance of its network of producers in supplying gold to the country’s established purchasing channels.
The momentum continued in 2025, with Betterbrands reportedly delivering 18.8 tonnes of gold to FGR by October. The volume was estimated to have a value exceeding US$1.9 billion, underscoring the economic significance of its gold-buying operations.
These deliveries came as Zimbabwe strengthened its gold production performance, with FGR surpassing the national 40-tonne target in 2025 and expectations for 2026 rising to 50 tonnes.
Betterbrands’ contribution highlights the role that organised gold-buying businesses can play in supporting formal deliveries and connecting dispersed mining operations to the national gold market.
Building relationships with small-scale miners
Beyond its gold delivery volumes, Betterbrands has developed a business model centred on its relationships with artisanal and small-scale miners.
Small-scale operators frequently face challenges accessing working capital, machinery, fuel and essential mining inputs. These constraints can affect production, delay the development of mining claims and limit the ability of miners to sustain their operations.
Betterbrands has sought to address some of these challenges through arrangements that include supplying fuel and chemicals, providing equipment under loan agreements and facilitating the purchase of inputs in local currency.
Such support can help producers maintain operations and establish more consistent commercial relationships with gold buyers.
The approach also illustrates how the role of a gold buyer can extend beyond purchasing the final product. By providing access to inputs and equipment, businesses operating within the gold supply chain can become part of the wider support structure on which small-scale production depends.
For miners, the value of these arrangements lies in their potential to ease operational constraints. For the formal market, stronger relationships with producers can help sustain gold supplies and encourage participation in established purchasing channels.
Betterbrands has also outlined plans to deploy geologists to work directly with small-scale miners, helping them assess their deposits and develop geological information that could support more informed mining decisions.
Access to professional geological services can be particularly important for smaller operators, whose claims may have limited technical data despite their potential mineral resources.
The initiative could help improve resource assessment and provide a basis for developing viable mining projects, while strengthening the technical capacity available to small-scale producers.
Expanding into gold refining
Betterbrands’ planned entry into gold refining represents another significant stage in its development.
The company’s new refinery in Bulawayo has been reported complete and awaiting its official opening. The facility is expected to extend its involvement in the gold value chain beyond buying and into processing.
Investment in domestic refining infrastructure is relevant to Zimbabwe’s broader ambition to capture more value from its mineral resources locally.
A refinery can create opportunities across processing, technical services, logistics and related activities, while adding another component to the infrastructure supporting the gold industry.
The scale of the facility’s eventual contribution will depend on its processing capacity, feedstock supply and operating arrangements. Nevertheless, its development signals an effort to expand the company’s role within the gold sector rather than remain focused solely on purchasing the metal.
For a business with an established network of gold suppliers, refining offers an opportunity to connect production and processing more closely within its operations.
Community investment beyond the gold trade
Betterbrands has also extended its presence into Zimbabwean sport through sponsorship initiatives supporting the national football team, the Warriors, and Black Rhinos Football Club.
The company unveiled a reported US$80,000 kit sponsorship for the Warriors and provided a US$460,000 support package to Black Rhinos, including a team bus and vehicles for the club’s coaching staff.
While these investments fall outside its direct mining operations, they demonstrate the company’s involvement in activities beyond its commercial role in the gold market.
Sport sponsorship can provide practical support to institutions that require equipment, transport and other resources to sustain their activities. Such initiatives also create opportunities for businesses to contribute to the wider communities and institutions within which they operate.
Consolidating its role in the gold sector
Under chairman Pedzai “Scott” Sakupwanya, Betterbrands Gold has built its position around gold purchasing, relationships with small-scale producers and plans to expand into refining.
Sakupwanya has credited government policies and incentives for small-scale miners with supporting production growth, highlighting the importance of the policy environment in which gold producers and buyers operate.
The company’s next phase will be shaped by the development of its refining operations and the implementation of its planned geological support programme.
Its record of reported gold deliveries provides a substantial basis for recognising its place in Zimbabwe’s gold industry, while its investments in producer support and processing infrastructure point to ambitions that extend beyond buying and selling gold.
As Zimbabwe continues to rely on gold for export earnings and economic activity, businesses that connect small-scale production with formal markets remain an important part of the sector’s wider operating landscape.
Betterbrands Gold’s experience illustrates how gold-buying networks, producer support and investment in processing can intersect within a single business. The lasting significance of that role will rest on sustained deliveries, the successful development of its refinery and the practical benefits its operations deliver to miners and the wider economy.
