Mining industry poised for continued growth

Gibson Mhaka Business Correspondent
THE mining industry is poised for continued growth amid indications that last year it contributed an estimated 16 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from four percent in 2008, Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Gift Chimanikire said yesterday. He said this year the industry was set to grow by 17.1 percent.

Addressing about 100 delegates attending the Mine Entra conference, Deputy Minister Chimanikire expressed optimism that the improved performance, which had improved the country’s economic growth and development, would continue prevailing.

“Share of mining to GDP has grown from an average of 10,2 percent in the 1990s to an average of 16.9 from 2009-2013, overtaking agriculture. The industry has contributed an estimated 16 percent to GDP in 2012, from four percent in 2008 and is expected to grow by 17,1 percent this year,” he said.

Deputy Minister Chimanikire attributed the success story of the industry to a number of policy interventions and initiatives by the Government which were aimed at extracting value through expediting the envisaged growth of the country’s mining sector.

He said the outlook in mining’s performance was bright but pointed out that the sector was still bedevilled by challenges in the areas of energy, infrastructure, financing, skills shortage and technology gap.

“The outlook is bright but challenges persist in the areas of energy, infrastructure, financing, skills shortage and technology gap and these must be addressed if the sector is to realise its full potential.

“As you know that the development of any mining sector is based on coherent, forwarding legislative and policy environment, the ministry is embarking on drafting a Minerals Development Policy that seeks to provide a framework for the sustainable management of the country’s mineral resources and to guide interventions by Government institutions as well as other stakeholders,” said the Deputy Minister.

He said his ministry was committed to supporting the small-scale mining sub-sector by facilitating the transformation of their present artisanal mining activities into a more organised and modernised units.

“The ministry is also encouraging and facilitating the sustainable development of small-scale mining in order to ensure optimal exploitation of small mineral deposits and to enable this sector to make positive contribution to the national economy”, he said.

Deputy Minister Chimanikire said the Government was inviting investors to come in as far as local beneficiation was concerned saying it was the only way the sector could drive the country’s economic growth.