The National Gold Buyers Association (NGBA) an affiliate of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) through its chairperson Mr Pedzisai Scott Sakupwanya has pledged to deliver 37 tonnes of gold to the country’s sole gold buyer and exporter Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR) in 2021.
Rudairo Mapuranga
Mr Sakupwanya promised the Minister of Mines and Mining Development Hon Winston Chitando at the ZMF one day conference held in Kadoma on Saturday that his association was working flat out to meet the gold target set by His Excellency President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa for the gold industry to become a US$4 Billion sector by 2023.
The NGBA chairperson also urged gold buyers to stop the selling of the yellow metal on the parallel market and to stop smuggling as the association was going to employ measures to
“Honorable Minister through your support, we want to deliver more gold to Fidelity and as an association, we pledge to deliver 37 tonnes this year. We are urging all buyers to desist from going to the black market or engage in the smuggling of gold,” Mr Sakupwanya said.
Despite gold deliveries to Fidelity taking a knock in 2021 as compared to the previous five years, Mr Pedzisai ‘Scott’ Skupwanya through his Better Brands Jewellery company has delivered 980 kgs of gold in February way over half of the gold the sole yellow metal buyer received during the month.
Official figures from Fidelity show that gold deliveries continued to decline in 2020 dropping by 31 per cent to 19,052 tonnes due to a host of reasons including smuggling and subdued performance by producers in the sector.
The figures show that deliveries declined to 19,052 tonnes last year from 27,66 tonnes a year earlier, In 2018, the country delivered 33,2 tonnes of the yellow metal.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has recently adjusted gold prices up and offered increased incentives to gold buyers in a move aimed at improving deliveries to the country’s sole gold buyer and exporter.
The RBZ move has come after ZMF led by its President Ms Henrietta Rushwaya held a highly successful meeting with the central bank and Fidelity advocating for price increases to near international prices.
According to statistics in 2016, Zimbabwe’s gold mining sector as a whole, consisting of both artisanal and small-scale mining (ASGM) and large-scale gold mining (LSGM), contributed 2.6% of gross domestic product (GDP), 18% of exports, 28% of mining output, and 1% of government revenues (royalties only) and employed 7.1% of the labour force.