Major policy shifts must consider investors

By Shame Makoshori | Jun. 5, 2026

Zimbabwe’s push to beneficiate lithium is finally beginning to deliver results.

The country exported raw lithium while others captured real value through processing, manufacturing and industrialisation. Zimbabwe remained at the bottom of the mineral value chain while foreign economies benefited from jobs, technology transfer and tax revenues generated from local resources.

That had to change.

Following dramatic policy interventions in February, lithium mines have committed close to US$1 billion towards processing plants.

For a country long trapped as a mere exporter of raw minerals, this is a major breakthrough.

Investments by leading players could mark the beginning of a transformation that repositions Zimbabwe into a serious industrial minerals economy linked to the global electric vehicle supply chain.

For that, Mines minister Polite Kambamura deserves credit.

The idea of exporting wealth in its crudest form while jobs, industries, technology transfer and tax revenues are generated elsewhere is simply unacceptable. Any serious nation sitting on strategic minerals cannot continue exporting rocks forever.

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But while the policy direction is correct, its implementation exposed a dangerous weakness that Zimbabwe must address if it hopes to remain attractive.

Policy unpredictability is one of the biggest threats to mining investment.

Investors can live with tough policies. What they struggle with are abrupt policy reversals, shifting goalposts and hurried implementation timelines that disrupt long-term planning.

Lithium concentrate export restrictions are a classic example.

The government had initially given miners until January 2027 to transition towards local processing infrastructure. Investors borrowed heavily, signed supply contracts, negotiated shipping arrangements and structured financing models based on that timeline. Banks and offshore lenders extended credit facilities using those projections.

But tighter export controls from February disrupted those arrangements overnight.

Some miners found themselves unable to honour commitments. Others faced strained relations with lenders. International commodity markets function on contractual certainty, timelines and predictability. When governments change conditions midway, investors absorb losses that are rarely discussed publicly.

Zimbabwe must understand a fundamental reality that mining is a long-term capital game.

Investors commit hundreds of millions of dollars over decades, not months. They make those decisions based on regulatory stability, policy consistency and confidence that agreements reached today will still hold tomorrow. Once confidence weakens, capital quietly migrates elsewhere.

The global competition for investment is fierce.

Countries across Africa, Latin America and Asia are aggressively competing for the same lithium capital Zimbabwe seeks to attract. Investors have alternatives. Capital has no nationality or emotions. It simply follows stability, efficiency and predictability.

Zimbabwe therefore cannot afford a reputation for policy volatility.

Beneficiation must remain a national policy, and there is no debate about that. But implementation must be strategic, consultative and gradual enough to avoid damaging investor confidence. The government must avoid creating an environment where investors fear that policy frameworks can shift abruptly before agreed deadlines expire.

Equally important, authorities must resist the temptation to constantly change taxes, royalties, exchange control frameworks and export regulations. Investors require visibility, and they need to model future revenues with reasonable certainty. Stable policy frameworks reduce investment risk and ultimately attract more capital into the country.

Beyond policy consistency, Zimbabwe must now focus on the fundamentals that genuinely attract mining investment.

Reliable electricity is critical, and efficient rail systems, water infrastructure and modern border systems matter.

We must respect property rights. No investor commits US$500 million based on speeches alone.

Mining capital responds to systems, certainty and trust.

As we have always argued, Zimbabwe must now demonstrate something equally important to global investors. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government must demonstrate that it presides over a country where long-term capital can feel secure around the clock.