THE government has reiterated its commitment to banning the export of unprocessed minerals, as lawmakers intensify pressure on authorities to ensure the country benefits fully from its vast mineral wealth through value addition and beneficiation.
The renewed push comes amid growing concern in Parliament that Zimbabwe continues exporting raw minerals while missing out on billions of dollars in industrial value, jobs and technology that are instead created in foreign processing hubs.
During a heated question-and-answer session in the National Assembly recently, legislators quizzed the Mines and Mining Development ministry over continued exports of raw minerals such as chrome, lithium, platinum and iron ore to countries like South Africa and China, where processing industries and employment opportunities are flourishing at Zimbabwe’s expense.
Raising the matter in Parliament, Rushinga MP Tendai Nyabani questioned why Zimbabwe continues to export raw minerals while foreign countries reap the industrial and economic benefits.
“Our minerals are being taken out of the country and we are not seeing any work being done to ensure that these are mined and processed locally,” Nyabani said.
He specifically cited chrome, lithium and iron ore from Manhize, arguing that Zimbabwe was effectively “exporting jobs” while neighbouring countries expanded their industrial sectors using Zimbabwean resources.
However, Mines and Mining Development deputy minister responsible for Oil and Gas Research and Other Strategic Minerals Exploration, Caleb Makwiranzou, said the government had introduced measures aimed at curbing the export of raw mineral concentrates.
Makwiranzou told Parliament that lithium concentrates are no longer allowed to leave Zimbabwe in raw form, with companies now expected to process the mineral into lithium sulphate
- Zim headed for a political dead heat in 2023
- Record breaker Mpofu revisits difficult upbringing
- Tendo Electronics eyes Africa after TelOne deal
- Record breaker Mpofu revisits difficult upbringing
Keep Reading
before export.
“We now expect lithium to be exported as lithium sulphate because that is a more processed product used in battery manufacturing,” he said.
He warned that continued exportation of raw ores denies Zimbabwe employment opportunities and industrial growth.
“If there is further processing in Zimbabwe, we will be creating our own jobs in the country,” Makwiranzou said.
However, Nyabani pressed the deputy minister for concrete timelines, arguing that government pronouncements alone are insufficient while minerals continued flowing out of the country.
The exchange exposed growing impatience among lawmakers over what many view as Zimbabwe’s long-standing failure to translate mineral wealth to broad-based economic transformation.
Mines and Mining Development minister Polite Kambamura later joined the debate, acknowledging that beneficiation was not an overnight process, insisting the government was moving to close “leakages” in the mining sector.
Kambamura said government policy position was clear: no mineral should leave Zimbabwe unbeneficiated.
“This is not an event, but a process,” he said.
Kambamura revealed that several companies had expressed interest in establishing chrome smelters in Zimbabwe, with the government preferring centralised smelting facilities capable of producing ferrochrome and other alloys locally.
He also pointed to investment by Dinson Iron and Steel Company in Chivhu, where iron ore is being processed into steel, as part of broader efforts to industrialise the mining value chain.
“When we stopped the exportation of lithium concentrates, some companies immediately indicated interest in manufacturing batteries in Zimbabwe,” the minister said.
He said the government wanted investors to move beyond lithium sulphate production towards lithium carbonate processing, a key component in battery manufacturing.
The debate also touched on Zimbabwe’s ambitions in the global transition to cleaner energy technologies.
Chinhoyi legislator Leslie Mhangwa asked whether Zimbabwe had a policy framework to position itself as a regional hub for critical minerals used in electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies.
In response, Kambamura clarified the distinction between “strategic minerals” and “critical minerals,” saying the government has classified the minerals and intends to protect them through increased State participation and stricter oversight.
“It is government policy that those minerals are guarded jealously with government participation and benefit during exploitation,” he said.
Zimbabwe possesses some of the world’s largest deposits of lithium, chrome and platinum — minerals that are increasingly central to global clean energy transitions.
However, analysts have long argued that the country continues losing billions of dollars through the export of raw minerals with limited downstream industrialisation.
