By Ryan Chigoche
Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development Caleb Makwiranzouwo made the case at the Africa Down Under conference in Perth, presenting Zimbabwe’s investment proposition as one built not only around the country’s mineral wealth, but also around the conditions required to develop large-scale projects and sustain them over the long term.
At the heart of that proposition is greater certainty over mining rights.
“We are finalising amendments to the Mines and Minerals Act to strengthen security of tenure, so that a licence granted is a licence protected. A newly constituted Mining Affairs Board is in place, mandated to administer mining titles fairly and to resolve disputes on the record and in reasonable time; public trust in that process is, in my view, an investment attraction instrument in its own right,” Makwiranzouwo said.
The reforms are intended to give investors greater confidence in the rights underpinning their projects, an important consideration in an industry where substantial capital can be committed years before a mine reaches full production.
That emphasis on certainty extends beyond the mining title itself. Zimbabwe is also seeking to make the process of establishing an investment more efficient through the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency, whose single-window system brings project registration, permitting and investor aftercare together on one platform.
For investors, the objective is straightforward: reduce the time between identifying an opportunity and getting a project moving.
The same principle applies to the treatment of capital once an investment is established. Makwiranzouwo pointed to Zimbabwe’s bilateral investment promotion and protection agreements, recognition of international commercial arbitration and the country’s liberalised exchange-control framework.
He said the Government guarantees the remittance of dividends, royalties and capital, placing that assurance within the context of the long investment horizons that define mining.
“This matters to you because a mine is a decades-long commitment, and it depends on macroeconomic stability for the whole of its life just as much as it depends on grade,” he said.
That long-term perspective is central to Zimbabwe’s message in Perth. The country is seeking to position its mineral resources within a broader investment framework in which investors can assess not only geological potential, but also the regulatory, fiscal and operating conditions surrounding a project.
Improving Project Economics
Once the question of investment security is addressed, the economics of individual projects come into focus.
Makwiranzouwo described Zimbabwe’s mining fiscal regime as one of the more competitive on the continent, pointing to special mining lease arrangements for qualifying large-scale projects, corporate tax relief during the early years of qualifying operations, duty-free importation of capital equipment and accelerated capital allowances.
The Government is also seeking to make investment in downstream processing more attractive, particularly as Zimbabwe pushes to capture a greater share of value from its mineral resources locally.
“For projects that add value locally – smelting, refining, cathode and precursor material production – additional incentives apply,” Makwiranzouwo said.
That creates an investment proposition that extends beyond the extraction of ore. Companies willing to establish processing and manufacturing capacity can participate in a broader mineral value chain, while Zimbabwe stands to retain more economic value from its resources.
The viability of that value chain, however, depends heavily on another fundamental input: energy.
Power Flexibility for Mining Projects
Zimbabwe is therefore making power supply part of its investment proposition, combining increased national generation with greater scope for mining companies to participate directly in electricity supply.
Makwiranzouwo pointed to investment in generation capacity, including the expansion of Hwange, alongside a rapidly growing renewable-energy portfolio.
At the project level, the Government has opened the door to independent power producers and arrangements that allow major mining developments to build, contract or wheel their own electricity.
“We have opened the door to independent power producers within the mining value chain itself, allowing major projects to build, contract or wheel their own power,” he said.
For large-scale mines and energy-intensive processing operations, the flexibility provides another route to managing one of the most important components of project economics while reducing reliance on a single source of supply.
Makwiranzouwo also said the Government had classified coal as a Special Critical Mineral, although the available section of his address did not include his further explanation of the designation.
Taken together, the measures form the core of Zimbabwe’s investment pitch at Africa Down Under: secure mining rights, a more streamlined route into the market, protection for investment and returns, incentives to improve project economics and greater options for securing power.
For Zimbabwe, the opportunity is to turn its significant mineral endowment into a new wave of long-term capital. For investors, the Government’s message in Perth is that the proposition is increasingly about more than what is in the ground — it is about creating the conditions to develop it.
