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Trust Freddy and Ivan Zhakata
INVESTORS from the India Trade Organisation are ready to pump US$100 million into the small-scale mining sector within a year, to increase their capacity and bolster their participation in the national economic transformation agenda.
This came up last Friday when a 14-member delegation of prospective investors from India, met with small-scale miners under the umbrella, Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF), and discussed various possibilities for partnerships.
The delegation was led by president of the India-Africa Trade Council, Dr Asif Iqbal, and had the opportunity to interact with some of the small-scale miners.
Issues of mechanisation came under intense discussion during the deliberations.
While addressing the small-scale miners, Dr Iqbal said they were keen to invest in the mining sector and wanted to know more about the opportunities available in the sector.
“India is a country of over 1,4 billion people now, and with a lot of investors, and a lot of people looking at building investment relationships.
“Within a year, we are targeting to bring investments approximately worth $100 million into the mining sector,” said Dr Iqbal.
The India Trade Organisation also plans to facilitate the exchange of information and sharing of knowledge and technologies, he said.
“We would like to impart skills as well as increasing the human potential, working on the education aspect of mining and getting into the aspect of upgrading the existing technologies.
“We would like bring new affordable technology because the technology that comes from the West is very expensive, (but) technology from India would be much affordable,” he said.
Speaking after a closed door session, ZMF president Ms Henrietta Rushwaya said the delegation had offered them a space to set up offices in India, from which to engage with potential investors keen on opportunities in Zimbabwe.
Ms Rushwaya said the coming of Indian delegation was yet another sign that President Mnangagwa’s engagement and re-engagement drive was paying off.
In his address during a Presidential star rally in Centenary on Saturday, President Mnangagwa vowed to provide more support to artisanal miners, as they are contributing a lot to gold deliveries in Zimbabwe.
Ms Rushwaya said with the support they have so far received, small-scale miners are now able to compete with medium and large-scale miners especially in gold production.
Apart from investments in mining, the Indian delegation also expressed interest in the hospitality, pharmaceutical, electrical, banking and microfinance sectors.
This came out when the delegation met Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Harare Metropolitan Province, Mr Tafadzwa Muguti, last Friday.
Said Dr Iqbal: “We are going to be in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls to explore opportunities and we are going to be looking at the pharmaceutical factories in Bulawayo to support and upgrade them.
“In Victoria Falls, we are going to be looking at the huge hospitality projects. We understand that certain things are not there, so we need to those spaces and see how we can take them up.
“Apart from the pharmaceutical sector, we are also going to be looking at banking, and we are going to explore how micro-financing can be structured to the next level.”
On his part, Mr Muguti said Zimbabwe and India have bilateral relations dating back to many years ago.
He encouraged the delegation to take advantage of the various investment opportunities in Zimbabwe, under a win-win scenario.
“We do not only have economic cooperation, but we also have political cooperation. For the last 22 years when Zimbabwe has been under economic sanctions from the West, we have found a good friend in the form of India and this has seen us being able to send our children for scholarships in India.”
“We have seen massive investments happening in Zimbabwe in the past 10 years from Indian companies. We have seen franchising such as Pepsi and other brands coming through, as a result of Indian cooperation.
“Our desire is for us to not only have closer bilateral relations, but us to be able to open up each other’s economies,” said Mr Muguti.
With India being a friend to many countries under Western sanctions, including Zimbabwe, Mr Muguti called on more Indian investors to take up opportunities in the country.
Online Reporter