adminPamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
INVESTORS have been challenged to venture into gold mining in Matabeleland South province to promote mineral exploitation and employment creation in the area.
The Minister of State for Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs, Cde Abednico Ncube, said the country was in need of investors with the capacity to exploit its abundant minerals such as gold.
He was addressing a team of foreign military attaches accredited to Zimbabwe in Gwanda yesterday.
The military attaches are touring the province to get an appreciation of what is happening in the country and see the investment opportunities.
The attaches, some of whom were accompanied by their spouses, are from China, Namibia, Tanzania, Russia, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, Angola and Britain.
They were also accompanied by officials from the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), which organises tours in different parts of the country annually for foreign attaches.
Minister Moyo said small-scale miners in the province were having challenges in acquiring the required equipment to exploit the gold in the area.
Matabeleland South is endowed with massive gold reserves. The stumbling block is lack of capacity to extract the gold from underground.
“Extraction and processing of gold requires a lot of money. We therefore need investors to assist us. I’m certain that they can also benefit from gold mining,” said Minister Ncube.
He said the province welcomes investors as long as they adhere to the Government rules and regulations.
“Our priority as Government is to deposit the gold to Fidelity Printers or the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. If we work well with investors I’m certain that we’ll be able to create employment and improve the livelihoods of the people in the province,” said Minister Ncube.
He added that potential investors could also consider constructing dams in the province, especially in Bulilima where there are a lot of rivers and no dams.
Mr Masauso Mawocha, the Matabeleland South provincial Agritex officer, said the province also had agricultural investment opportunities.
“Matabeleland South has great opportunities in the agriculture sector especially irrigation projects,” said Mr Mawocha.
“We’re looking at changing our irrigation schemes to centre pivots to improve production. Investors therefore have an opportunity to assist and at the same time benefit from these projects. About 60 percent of livestock in the province is affected by water shortages. The construction of dams will go a long way in alleviating the shortage of water and also improve the quality of livestock.”
The military team visited Ntalale Bridge, about 70km from Gwanda which was recently reconstructed following destruction by floods in February.
The District Development Fund (DDF) provincial coordinator Mr Douglas Dube said investors could assist in the re-construction of bridges which were washed away by the Cyclone Dineo induced floods.
“We’re trying to correct the situation after the floods destroyed most of our roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Some boreholes are not working due to the damage caused by the floods.
“The reconstruction of Ntalale Bridge was funded by the Government at a cost of about $250 000 and we worked with the community. Due to the economic challenges we might take a long time to repair all the damaged roads and bridges. We therefore need investors who can assist us in this regard,” said Mr Dube.
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Sidumisile Mabena
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