Last month the president Emmerson Mnangagwa announced fuel price hike which was deemed by some economic experts “painful but necessary”. The price hike were aimed at reducing the high demand of fuel which had smashed Zimbabwe to the hardcore, was also implemented to reduce the allegedly hoarding of fuel from Zimbabwe by foreign companies due to the fact that in reality fuel in Zimbabwe was too cheap, costing less than USD O,7O.
Rudairo Dickson Mapuranga
However, according to some experts, the fuel situation in Zimbabwe is affecting miners all the more than creating a favorable environment for them. The fuel price hike which caused diesel and petrol to cost more than $3, fueled the escalation of some mining equipment and even basic commodities without prices of precious metals and stones increasing, as a result the miner is affected all the more.
Miners are crying over fuel prices in Zimbabwe, some who met Mining Zimbabwe said that their work relations have been decreased due to price hikes which were speared mainly by the increase in fuel prices.
“Currently the fuel remains the hardest hitting coupled with the fact that the retention is not workable, Chamber of Mines is engaging government to increase forex payment to 80%, and submissions were made to Reserve Bank for immediate review. The portion of 50% and 50% bond is a huge loss for chrome Miners especially with the increased fuel price and the fact that service providers are charging USD for parts” said one miner.
Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) said that they are engaging the government on the issue of fuel which have affected mining activities to a greater degree. They said that the government need to look into the matter, pay their dues in USD or provide them with a certain funding that will enable them to grow. The fact remains that the mining industry have proven be a major catalyst in the turnaround of the economy of Zimbabwe.
“We continue with the call for formalization by government amending the mining act and ZMF requires an act to be included in government budgets to access funding for its miner programmes” they said.
An inside source in ZMF said that the organization is in the process of pushing to acquire fuel import license so that cost of fuel will be reduced specifically to the miner in order to increase production. Miners activities especially small scale miners require the use of diesel and petrol because most of these miners use diesel or petrol electricity generators for extraction and power.
“We want a license so we can import it in specifically for miners, but the president will announce it let me put you in touch with her directly, so she gives you the scoop first. We are still in talks right now so it can only be divulged after there’s a concrete plan” she said.
This article first appeared in Mining Zimbabwe Feb 2019 issue
