admindug out of Africa’s belly and then openly shipped out of the continent by colonists back to their native countries, themselves impoverished in minerals awash in colonial countries.
Once there they were processed into finished products, their true value established but kept secret from the people at source or, sold back to Africa at exorbitant prices to benefit those who plundered Africa’s mineral wealth in the first place.
The above will probably sound like a fairy tale to the uninitiated in independent Africa as well as in some other former colonial country.
But the truth is that foreigners continue to skim the cream of Africa’s mineral wealth including Zimbabwe’s own, while independent and sovereign states proclaim to the rest of the world that they are in control of their abundant and rich natural resources.
It is no exaggeration for this pen to suggest that many otherwise rich African states, mineral wise, today preside over gaping holes in the ground where foreign companies pulled out gems and secreted them out or carted them off with claims that these were samples to be evaluated abroad, while the children of the people who claim common ownership of those minerals push distended bellies and with their governments in dire cash straps to develop economies.
As long as African countries, including our own, remain as primary sources of raw mineral resources for the developed world, there can be no meaningful social and economic development for Africa.
Yes, secondary industries hold out a bright future for nations such as Zimbabwe which are endowed with vast untapped mineral riches.
Secondary industries are the epitome of true industrialisation and an engine for economic and social advancement.
Secondary industries add value to finished products for the benefit of a country, and it is for this reason that Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu says the Government will ban the export of semi-processed platinum in two years to compel platinum mining companies to set up a refinery in the country.
But why ban the export of unprocessed platinum, one might ask?
The answer is obvious: Zimbabwe as the source of the important mineral does not benefit from the value added to the finished products outside of her borders.
It is also for that reason that the Zimbabwe Diamond Education College is offering classes in the evaluation and grading, cutting and polishing of the gem to add value to the finished products for the country’s benefit.
As already alluded to above, the country has no control over the final pricing of minerals processed into finished products in foreign lands and that deprives it of the amounts of money accruing from the finished products.
Minister Mpofu said earlier last week that platinum mining companies that possess extra land would have it repossessed by the Government which will also ban the export of semi-processed platinum to compel the platinum mining companies to set up a refinery in the country.
The move might well raise eyebrows from those who see Zimbabwe’s rich mineral deposits as a free-for-all.
Tough luck for them, but the country has to take control of its mineral riches, and be seen to do so for the benefit of Zimbabwe.
Those who disagree with the paradigm shift needed in our mining and, indeed, manufacturing sectors as a whole are free to pack up their bags and go, and the vacuum they create will be filled by more committed Zimbabwean partners-in-development sooner rather than later.
It is an empty boast of any country to claim that it possesses mines when, in reality, what goes on regarding the extraction and export of the raw materials are beyond the knowledge and control of those in Government.
Indigenisation and economic empowerment mean that Zimbabweans should be in control of the mining, processing and sale of their God-given resources.
That is exactly what the concept “to govern” means.
Moreover, when finishing processes for raw materials take place at source, more jobs that are otherwise exported with the unfinished products are created for local people who need them the most.
Stephen Mpofu is a veteran journalist and former editor of Chronicle.
Online Reporter