Staff Reporter
President Emmerson Mnangagwa officially opened the 26th Mining Engineering and Transport Expo (MineEntra) in Bulawayo, where he underpinned the Mining Industry as the driving force towards Zimbabwe’s industrialisation and modernisation.
President Mnangagwa lauded the Expo’s 2023 theme, ‘Acceleration of economic transformation through minerals beneficiation’, remarking that it should not be limited to the maximization of revenue but should expand to a wide range of products through value addition and manufacturing for the benefit of the country’s citizenry and the continent at large.
“This theme resonates with my Government’s on going thrust to ensure that our grassroots communities and the citizenry at large enjoy the benefits of our rich mineral resource base,” said President Mnangagwa.
Remarks by President Mnangagwa reiterate the Second Republic’s mantra that Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo through its own resources. He further urged delegates at the expo to fully utilise the platform for skills and information exchange.
On his part Vice President, Constantino Chiwenga recapped that the rapid growth of the mining sector had by far exceeded their expectations before further indicating that the USD$12 billion mining industry was now within reach.
Zimbabwe is ranked the 6th country in the world with vast lithium deposits. So far the country has racked USD$209 million from the soon to be most sought after mineral in the world.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s minerals including Nickel, which plays a pivotal role in the manufacturing of batteries, remain under-explored. This has prompted the Government to maintain an open door policy to allow potential investors to invest in the vast mining opportunities.
