Amid global competition for investment, Zimbabwe’s mining sector possesses a distinct and powerful advantage: a stable, educated, and experienced labour force with constructive industrial relations, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Speaking at the Zimbabwe Mining Forum on the sidelines of the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba in Cape Town, Fungai Makoni, Managing Director of Mimosa Mining Company, highlighted the country’s favourable human capital environment as a critical asset for operational stability and growth.
“We have a very stable, educated, experienced labour force,” Makoni stated. “And I think, like my colleagues, we’ve got that as an asset, as an advantage to our mining environment.”
Makoni, whose company is a major platinum producer, emphasised the sector’s industrial peace, noting a stark contrast with more militant jurisdictions.
“We are not as militant as other jurisdictions,” he said. “The unions in our country are very constructive, and they seem to see progress. So we hardly see strikes.”
This stability is reflected in remarkably low staff turnover. “I think our labour turnover… is fairly low. We’re talking some 5 per cent,” Makoni explained, attributing this primarily to retirements and medical separations rather than resignations.
This environment is supported by structured wage agreements under the National Employment Council (NEC), providing a framework for fair and predictable compensation.
While acknowledging the loss of some specialised skills, such as diesel plant fitters to markets such as Australia and Canada, Makoni pointed to a strong domestic pipeline for replenishing talent.
“We have the Zimbabwe School of Mines, the University of Zimbabwe, etc., producing skills that we tap into,” he said. Through learnerships, cadetships, and apprenticeships, the industry actively cultivates its future workforce. “Most of our representative companies here employ almost 100 per cent local skills. And we’ve done that for the longest time in Zimbabwe.”
Looking ahead, Makoni identified a shared responsibility to maintain this edge. “As the mining environment opens up more, we could face a challenge in terms of skills availability,” he cautioned. He called on the industry to continue supporting institutions like the School of Mines and the University of Zimbabwe “to continue generating the right quality and quantity of skills.”
This skilled workforce operates within one of Africa’s most endowed geological terrains. Zimbabwe is home to the Great Dyke, a 550km-long mineral-rich structure hosting vast reserves of platinum, chrome, and nickel. Beyond this, the country’s ancient cratons hold significant, often under-explored potential for gold, lithium, and diamonds.
Recent discoveries, including major lithium finds, continue to prove the richness of the basement geology. This world-class mineral endowment provides the essential raw material that makes investment in skills and stability so valuable, offering decades of potential resource development.
The stability Makoni described is complemented by ongoing efforts to create a clear fiscal and regulatory environment. Key policies shaping the sector include:
Value Addition Focus: A central government drive aims to increase mineral beneficiation. Notably, a 5% royalty rate on raw lithium exports incentivises local processing, a policy that has already attracted investments in lithium sulphate and hydroxide plants.
Encouraging Formal Production: Fiscal measures, such as a 5% royalty discount for gold producers selling to formal channels, are designed to boost foreign currency earnings and support legal operations.
Streamlined Administration: The government is accelerating the granting of mining titles through a modernised, computerised cadastre system to reduce bureaucratic delays and improve transparency for investors.
Makoni’s assessment underscores that beyond geology, Zimbabwe’s human capital and labour stability are significant pillars for investment. His comments reflect broader industry confidence in a sector where a skilled workforce, clear geological potential, and evolving, growth-oriented policies are converging.
The combination of a stable operational environment, vast mineral wealth, and a fiscal framework prioritising value addition presents a compelling, multi-faceted case for miners seeking a long-term, productive investment destination.
