COMMENT : Zimbabwe’s resources must build Zimbabwe

For decades, our economy has been built on a precarious foundation. We have dug our wealth from the soil — gold, platinum, chrome, and lithium — only to watch it sail away on ships and trucks as raw, unprocessed rock. We have exchanged our non-renewable heritage for short-term gain, exporting jobs along with the ore.

That era must end. And if the recent policy declarations from the Government are implemented with the rigour they deserve, it finally will.

As outlined by Industry and Commerce Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu in Parliament recently, Zimbabwe is drawing a line in the sand. The message to global capital and local industry is simple: if you want our minerals, you will help us build our nation. The newly articulated strategy, combining a mandatory Local Content Policy, a ban on raw lithium exports, and a radical push for rural industrialisation, is not just an economic adjustment; it is the next phase of our economic sovereignty.

For too long, we have been victims of the “resource curse”, extracting wealth that enriches foreign supply chains while leaving our communities impoverished. The decision to ban the export of raw lithium concentrates is particularly significant. In an age where lithium powers the green revolution, Zimbabwe sits on some of the largest deposits on the continent. Yet, we have been relegated to the role of a quarry, watching other nations build the batteries and electric vehicles of the future while we are left with the holes in the ground.

By forcing beneficiation locally, we are demanding a seat at the table of the future. Processing lithium here means building factories here. It means employing chemists, engineers, and technicians here. It means that when the world transitions to green energy, Zimbabwe transitions to a higher economic status.

However, the strategy rightly recognises that industrialisation cannot be a story that only plays out in Harare or Bulawayo. Minister Ndlovu’s emphasis on rural industrialisation is the political and economic masterstroke of this plan. With the majority of Zimbabweans living in rural areas, any development that ignores them is a blueprint for failure.

The restructuring of the Community Economic Empowerment Trust to link extractive industries directly to local supply chains is a crucial mechanism. It ensures that the “host community” is not just a passive observer watching trucks drive by, but an active participant. When a mine needs food, it should buy from local Village Business Units. When it needs basic supplies, local manufacturers should get the tender.

This brings us to the Local Content Strategy. Mandating that manufacturers use 60 percent local raw materials is a bold target. Critics will argue that local industry isn’t ready, that quality isn’t there, or that it will increase costs. These are the arguments of those who benefit from the status quo. We have the resources; we must develop the capacity. Fiscal incentives for those who hit these targets will create a market pull for primary producers, effectively forcing the entire value chain to level up.

We are standing at a precipice. The world is hungry for our lithium. The region is hungry for manufactured goods. Our people are hungry for jobs.

The plan laid out by Minister Ndlovu answers these hungers with a unified strategy: build here, process here and benefit here. We cannot afford to fail. Our resources are finite. Our time to use them to build an enduring nation is now.