When I reached out to one of London’s richest billionaires on Monday, he was over the moon.
“Good to hear from you on this great day where gold has hit a new all-time record high,” he remarked.
Gold prices had surged to historic levels just hours before our conversation, powering past US$5 100 an ounce as investors piled into the safe-haven metal amid deepening geopolitical and economic uncertainty. It is a rally for the ages.
As we dug deeper into the merits of a sustained bull run, my thoughts drifted back home — to a gold-rich country whose 2026 National Budget already anticipates richer pickings from favourable commodity markets. For Zimbabwe, this extraordinary rally should mark a moment of opportunity.
High gold prices immediately strengthen the balance sheets of producers, expand their capacity to reinvest, deepen exploration and create jobs. For the fiscus, higher royalties, improved corporate tax inflows, PAYE from expanded payrolls and increased foreign currency receipts are all within reach.
At a time when the economy is on its knees — and ordinary families are struggling to put food on the table, regardless of official spin — this windfall matters.
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The Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) has projected mineral revenues of US$3,3 billion this year, driven by improved export performance and price recovery in key commodities. Gold sits at the vortex of that projection. But it is not alone. Platinum group metals, lithium, chrome and nickel are also showing resilience, while good rains raise hopes for stronger agricultural output and downstream agro-processing.
The building blocks for a better than expected year are present, that is if the moment is managed properly.
That is the central warning.
Zimbabwe has a painful history of commodity booms that enriched a few. The 2011 gold surge, which peaked above US$2 100 an ounce, forced families across Asia to rummage through drawers for forgotten jewellery to sell.
At home, windfalls from mining and other sources have too often morphed into elite consumption such as luxury vehicles, foreign shopping trips, speculative property, and globe — trotting escapades that add nothing to productivity.
This must not be another such episode.
If the gold bull market persists, as many analysts expect, Zimbabwe has a narrow, but powerful window to do a few basic things right.
First, stabilise public services that directly touch households. Improved tax inflows should be visible in functioning hospitals, stocked clinics, reliable water systems and schools that no longer rely on parents to plug every funding gap. This is not a call for grand new projects, but for restoring dignity.
We must prioritise infrastructure that supports production. Roads, power supply stability, rail and border efficiency all have direct multiplier effects.
We must use this opportunity to support value addition and local procurement. If mines are earning more, local suppliers, engineers, transporters and service providers should feel it too. This requires discipline in policy enforcement — not new slogans.
We must rebuild fiscal buffers. This windfall should reduce arrears, strengthen reserves, and lower the economy’s exposure to shocks. Countries that treat commodity booms as permanent income always pay the price later.
MMCZ’s own reporting highlights both progress and risk. While compliance, monitoring and verification systems are improving, mineral leakages, estimated at over US$1 billion annually, remain a serious threat. Every dollar lost through smuggling or under invoicing is a dollar stolen from schools, hospitals and public investment. That is why transparency and enforcement are not technical issues, but moral ones.
The same vigilance must apply to how revenues are spent. Citizens should be able to trace improved mineral earnings into tangible national outcomes, not social media displays of excess by the politically-connected.