The Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe has announced that the Annual Mining Conference, which will take place later this week in the resort city of Victoria Falls, will focus on consolidating advances made in the previous year in order to set the groundwork for achieving the US$12 billion mining industry GDP by 2023.
The mining sector posted its record earnings of US$ 5 billion last year which is US$ 7 Billion short of 2023 target with just a year to go.
Speaking at a media briefing in Harare this morning, the chamber’s chief executive, Isaac Kwesu said the two-day indaba running from the 2nd to the 4th of June will focus on working the eight percent growth target for the sector ahead of 2023.
“We will be able to achieve the growth target of 8 percent that has been set by government.
“It is against this background that this year’s Conference will be held under the theme “Consolidating growth drivers for the mining industry.” The theme recognizes the current growth and inherent potential of the mining industry as well as the opportunity that entails for the whole economy to align with the government target Vision 2030.”
The Mining sector rebounded last year from the COVID-19 effects, posting a 3.4% gain from a contraction of -9% in 2020.
The growth was largely buoyed by commodity price upturn that has seen mineral prices surpassing their long-term averages.
Gold production grew 86%, Lithium 83%, diamonds 51%, coal 21%, platinum 13% and nickel 13%.
The conference will be officially opened by President Emmerson Mnangagwa with other distinguished guest including Ministers of Mines and Mineral Development and Finance and Economic Development, Winston Chitando and Mthuli Ncube, respectively, Chamber of Mines representatives for Tanzania and Botswana and other various mining stakeholders.
“The outcome of the Conference is expected to assist in promoting the development and growth of the mining sector on the medium to long term,” said Kwesu.
The event comes at a time there has been significant positive developments in the industry that has seen the commissioning of new mines in key sub-sectors including gold, coal and lithium.
However, headwinds in the economy which includes hyper-inflation which has significantly upped operating costs for miners, volatility of local currency, policy inconsistencies, foreign currency retention policy and low investment remains major stumbling blocks for the sector.
