‘Resources should benefit locals’

A senior Government official says it is important to ensure that Zimbabweans benefit
from their country's rich mineral resources and in particular those communities in
areas where minerals are being exploited.

Zimbabwe has over 60 different types of minerals and currently is the third largest
producer of platinum, while it has vast goldfields. It also boasts of large lithium
reserves although its citizens have little to show for it.

Speaking during a Public-Private Enterprises Interface Meeting towards Vision 2030
in the city recently, the Minister of Skills Audit and Development, Professor Paul
Mavhima, said the investment from the mining developments should be seen
through the developments being implemented.

“We should have what the Foreign Direct Investment to the extent that the cream
that comes from that investment remains in Zimbabwe. I am sorry to say that it is not
beneficial direct foreign investment if they come and set up a mining operation of
US$200 million but exporting US$2 billion,” said Professor Mavhima.

“It is not beneficial to us if we are left with hollows and blast mountains. Let it be
seen in the roads that would have been rehabilitated, in schools and clinics built, in
the number of learners that are being sent to school that indeed there were
resources that were being mined. That’s the ideology that our young people should
have.”

The development of communities has been one major concern raised by those in
areas rich in resources who should also benefit through employment creation and
those who would have been moved being able to be compensated.

Meanwhile, Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Ezra
Chadzamira, urged young business people to plough back into their communities
through Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR).

“To the younger entrepreneur, the next generation of philanthropists, many of you
have achieved financial success, it is my hope you choose to donate your wealth to
a noble cause and establish a foundation and leave a legacy. I urge you to choose to
give back to the society.”

During his visit in July President Emmerson Mnangagwa warned against mineral
leakages such as lithium and said the local people must be able to benefit from the
resources in their areas.