MUTAPA Investment Fund (MIF) has launched a sweeping overhaul of its mining portfolio, abandoning a traditional holding-company structure in favour of commodity-specific verticals as it seeks to improve efficiency, accountability, and long-term returns.
Addressing a press conference organised by Kuvimba Mining House in Harare on Thursday, MIF chief investment officer Simbarashe Chinyemba said the restructuring followed a rigorous diagnostic assessment in which “we appraised the government’s financial performance and the operational efficiency of the entire cluster”.
“We are unveiling a comprehensive restructuring that transitions us from a broad holding model to specialised, commodity-specific verticals,” Chinyemba said.
Under the previous arrangement, minerals held by Zimbabwe’s sovereign investment arm were owned through a complex web of entities under Mutapa, including Kuvimba Mining House, the Industrial Development Corporation, and various minority shareholders.
“We are rationalising this structure to create a more streamlined and efficient ownership model. I want to be clear that what we are doing is neither unique nor experimental,” he said.
“It simply reflects how the world’s leading mining houses organise themselves to be effective, accountable, and aligned with long-term shareholder outcomes.”
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As part of the new structure, MIF is adopting what Chinyemba described as a “best-in-class global architecture”, organising its assets into distinct verticals covering gold; precious and crude metals; energy — including lithium, nickel, and other energy minerals — as well as base metals.
Chinyemba said diversified conglomerates often suffer from a conglomerate discount, where value is eroded by diluted focus.
“By moving to these commodity-specific vehicles — or verticals, as we call them — we are removing administrative layers and ensuring that our technical expertise is tightly focused on the unique fundamentals of each mineral,” he said.
He noted that the technical and economic drivers of gold mining differ significantly from those of lithium, coal, and other minerals, making a one-size-fits-all structure inefficient.
“This new structure allows us to calibrate capital allocation and technical oversight to the specific cycles of each commodity,” Chinyemba said.
“It also flattens our hierarchy, enabling faster decision-making in response to market volatility. We have looked to industry precedents for validation.”
He cited global mining giant Rio Tinto, which recently reorganised its operations into core commodity units such as iron ore and aluminium, as an example of the direction the industry is taking to sharpen focus and improve returns.
“This is the direction the industry is pursuing, and we are aligning MIF with these proven operating models,” Chinyemba said.
He added that the restructuring forms the foundation of MIF’s 2026 FIRE strategy — to fix, revive, strengthen, and extract value from its entities.
“It allows us to identify crown-jewel assets for scaling while isolating risk,” he said.
“While this process remains subject to applicable regulatory approvals, our goal is the preservation and growth of national wealth in an increasingly volatile global market.
“Clarity of purpose is our most important tool. This structure ensures that our mining portfolio remains a resilient and efficient engine for Zimbabwe’s economic development.”
Under the new structure, Godwin Gambiza will head Mutapa Base Metals, Trevor Barnard will lead Mutapa Gold Resources, Munashe Shava will head Mutapa Platinum, while Innocent Rukweza will lead Mutapa Energy.