CAPE TOWN — The Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF), Zimbabwe’s sovereign wealth fund, is positioning its mining cluster to become the central driver of long-term economic transformation, courting patient capital to support value addition, infrastructure development, and industrial growth, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Ryan Chigoche
MIF Chief Investment Officer Simbarashe Chinyemba highlighted this vision at the Fund’s side event during the ongoing Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town, outlining how mining will anchor Zimbabwe’s broader economic transformation.
This vision follows the Fund’s recent strategic restructuring of its former mining cluster, Kuvimba Mining House, into five separate entities: Mutapa Gold Resources, Mutapa Base Metals, Mutapa Energy Minerals, Mutapa Platinum Group, and Mutapa Frontier. The move is intended to create more focused operations across key mineral sectors, allowing for greater efficiency and targeted investment.
The Fund manages a US$15 billion diversified portfolio spanning mining, energy, infrastructure, agriculture, ICT, finance, and real estate. Within this broad portfolio, mining is being strategically positioned as the engine for economic growth.
Chinyemba explained that Zimbabwe’s mineral resources are central not only to the Fund’s investment strategy but also to national economic transformation.
“As a country, we possess significant lithium, gold and other strategic mineral resources, and these mining assets form the liquidity engine of our national transformation agenda. Transformation requires capital, and in our view, that capital must be generated from the vast mineral resources the country holds. Mining done correctly should fund structural transformation, moving us beyond exporting raw resources towards building value chains, strengthening infrastructure and driving long-term economic growth.”
While raw mineral exports generate immediate revenue, long-term transformation depends on moving up the value chain, including converting lithium into battery chemicals and building domestic industrial capacity.
By leveraging mineral wealth strategically, MIF aims to generate the capital required to support industrialisation and infrastructure expansion.
Positioned as a central investment vehicle, the sovereign fund is mandated to safeguard and grow national wealth through commercial and strategic assets while promoting long-term economic transformation and intergenerational value. MIF is actively restructuring and commercialising state-linked assets, improving performance, and converting resource endowments into productive, bankable enterprises capable of supporting national growth without relying on fiscal borrowing.
Among its flagship mining initiatives, the US$270 million Sandawana lithium concentrator project, structured under a build-operate-transfer model, is expected to move Zimbabwe from raw ore exports to higher-value processing. Expansion at Shamva, including a US$150 million underground development, aims to sustain long-term gold production and foreign currency inflows.
Addressing investors directly, Chinyemba emphasised the Fund’s strategy and readiness to partner on structured projects:
“We have the resources, we have the strategy, and now through Mutapa, we’re able to implement that plan and convert those resources into results. This is how nations transfer, and this is how they transform asset by asset, institution by institution, value chain by value chain,” Chinyemba said.
He further extended an invitation to potential partners, underlining MIF’s approach to practical, results-driven investment:
“If you’re looking to invest in Zimbabwe, we, as a very credible investment alliance, invite you to come and discuss how you can participate in our vision to build a Zimbabwe that doesn’t just create a promise for change, but leads us to prosperity,” Chinyemba added.
The Fund stressed that mining should fund transformation rather than distort it, positioning the sector as a sustainable source of capital for infrastructure and industrial development.
Beyond mining, MIF is mobilising investment into enabling infrastructure critical to economic transformation, including rehabilitating power generation and transmission systems, strengthening rail infrastructure, and mobilising capital for strategic national assets. Addressing challenges in the energy sector, including debt constraints at the national utility, the Fund is prioritising rehabilitation and efficiency improvements to restore capacity, reduce imports, and preserve foreign currency.
Governance, transparency, and commercial discipline are central to building investor confidence. Predictable institutions and accountable asset management, Chinyemba noted, are key to converting national assets into bankable investment opportunities. The Fund’s commitment to transparency is part of broader efforts to strengthen credibility and attract long-term investment.
Chinyemba concluded by inviting investors to participate in Zimbabwe’s mining-led transformation, positioning MIF as a strategic platform for long-term investment across mining, infrastructure, and other key economic sectors.
When MIF assumed control of its portfolio, many assets were underperforming and burdened by structural inefficiencies. Recognising the need for stronger governance and strategic oversight, the Fund has focused on actively managing and rehabilitating these enterprises, transforming underperforming mining operations into productive ventures that can fund Zimbabwe’s broader transformation agenda.
