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<p>HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday appointed former banker Mthuli Ncube as finance minister and kept Winston Chitando in charge of mining, placing two technocrats at the helm of plans to rescue the country’s battered economy.</p>
<p>The 75-year-old leader is under pressure to rebuild an economy hit by lack of foreign investment, unemployment above 80 percent and acute dollar shortages that have hobbled some imports.</p>
<p>Mnangagwa won a disputed vote on July 30, the first election in the southern African nation since Robert Mugabe was removed by the army last November after nearly four decades in power.</p>
<p>In appointing Ncube, Mnangagwa wants to show the international community that he is giving priority to the economy and moving away from the Mugabe years where important cabinet posts were given on patronage lines.</p>
<p>“It sounds very encouraging especially on the choice of finance minister. That’s a very good foundation for the country’s economic recovery prospects,” said John Robertson, a Harare-based independent economist.</p>
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<p>“I hope the president will permit those ministers to exercise their skills without interference.”</p>
<p>Ncube, 55, is a former chief economist and vice president at the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was also a lecturer in finance at the London School of Economics and Wits Business School in South Africa.</p>
<p>He founded Zimbabwe’s Barbican Bank and asset management company, which were, however, put into administration by the central bank in 2005 after only two years of operations. The bank’s license was later canceled.</p>
<p>Ncube will be tasked with crafting an economic recovery program as well as coming up with strategy to pay off Zimbabwe’s $1.8 billion arrears to the World Bank and AfDB.</p>
<h3>MINING FAVORITE</h3>
<p>Chitando, a former managing director and chairman at the Impala Platinum and Sibanye-Stillwater joint venture platinum miner Mimosa, was favorite to be retained at the mines ministry, to which he was first appointed in Nov. 2017.</p>
<p>Mining generates more than half of Zimbabwe’s foreign export earnings and Mnangagwa has said the sector, which is attracting investors in lithium mining, will anchor future economic growth.</p>
<p>Mnangagwa also appointed ZANU-PF national chairperson Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri as Defence Minister, taking away a key security portfolio from Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, the retired general who led the coup against Mugabe.</p>
<p>Zimbabwean swimming Olympic gold medalist Kirsty Coventry was a surprise pick for the youth and sports ministry in a cabinet that did not include any opposition officials.</p>
<p>Mnangagwa appointed eight new faces to his cabinet but there was no place for long serving ministers Patrick Chinamasa, Obert Mpofu, David Parirenyatwa and Simon Moyo.</p>
<p>“We would want to grow, modernize and mechanize our economy. We believe in the next five years, we will be able to transform our people into middle income citizens,” Mnangagwa told reporters after his chief secretary announced the cabinet list.</p>
<p>Mnangagwa had earlier received support from former President Robert Mugabe who said he now accepted him as Zimbabwe’s legitimate leader after initially accusing him of leading a “disgraceful” de facto coup that ended his near four-decades rule last year.</p>
<p>On the eve of the July 30 vote, Mugabe, 94, said he would vote for the opposition to remove Mnangagwa’s “military government”, expressing bitterness toward his one-time allies in the ruling ZANU-PF party.</p>
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<p class="Attribution_content">Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Catherine Evans, William Maclean</p>
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Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa names new cabinet, ex-banker to be finance minister

<p>VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe, May 18 (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe needs up to $11 billion to modernise its mines and boost production to maximum capacity over the next five years, the head of the country’s Chamber of Mines said on Friday.</p>
<p>Foreign investor interest in the southern African nation is growing after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe following a de facto military coup last November but projects are still constrained by lack of funding.</p>
<p>Batirai Manhando, Chamber of Mines president, said with the exception of platinum producers, all other mines, including those of gold, nickel, cobalt and coal were operating below their installed capacity.</p>
<p>Mining generates more than half of Zimbabwe’s export receipts — last year it earned $2.8 billion — but industry executives say it has the potential to earn more with increased investment.</p>
<p>“The local mining industry is currently operating below capacity on the back of capital shortages,” Manhando told an annual meeting of the mining chamber.</p>
<p>“At the beginning of the year the capital intensive industry required $7 billion for both ramp-up and sustenance capital. The figure has lately been revised upwards to $11 billion with renewed interest in our sector,” Manhando said.</p>
<p>Zimbabwe holds the second largest deposits of platinum and chrome after South Africa and has lately seen increased interest from lithium investors, who however say funding still remains a hurdle.</p>
<p>Manhando said mining companies in Zimbabwe faced problems that included high costs of electricity, labour and royalty fees when compared to other jurisdictions. There had also been little exploration in the country since 2000, he added.</p>
<p>Equipment at most mines was more than 50 years old, severely undermining efficiency and cost effectiveness of the sector, said Manhando.</p>
<p>Mines Minister Winston Chitando said the government would announce a new “mining vision” at the end of June and projected that the output of gold could rise to 85 tonnes in five years.</p>
<p>Output of gold, the biggest mineral by earnings, is expected to rise to 30 tonnes this year from 23 tonnes in 2017, according to Ministry of Mines data. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe Editing by Keith Weir)</p>


Why Zimbabwe wants $11bn for its mines

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<p>Zimbabwe’s Mines Minister Winston Chitando said amendments to the country’s mining laws will be finalized in the coming few months. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Daniel Sango caught up with the Minister on the side-lines of the inaugural Harare Indaba held in Johannesburg to give more clarity on the new mining rules and more.</p>


Zimbabwe’s mines minister clarifies new mining rules

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<p>Africa Chrome Fields, which is owned by non-listed South African company Moti Holdings, announced in 2014 that it would invest over $200 million into a mining project in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe.</p>


Why Africa Chrome Fields is investing millions into Zimbabwe

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<p>Given its abundant mineral resources, Zimbabwe is hoping that the change in leadership will help unlock the country’s investment opportunities in the mining sector.</p>


Africa Chrome Fields’ John Drummond on the mining landscape in Zimbabwe

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<p>Given its abundant mineral resources, Zimbabwe is hoping that the change in leadership will help unlock the countries investment opportunities in the mining sector. CNBC Africa caught up with the Minister of Mines and Development, Winston Chitando.</p>


Is now the time to invest in Zimbabwe’s mining sector?

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<p data-reactid="32">Zimbabwe’s state diamond company is expected to produce at least 3 million carats this year, up 65 percent from 1.8 million in 2017, the mines minister told parliament on Monday.</p>
<div id="attachment_114416" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-114416" class="wp-image-114416 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/shutterstock_854678082.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="600" /><p id="caption-attachment-114416" class="wp-caption-text">Photo: Shutterstock.</p></div>
<p data-reactid="33">Winston Chitando said the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company, which was formed in 2016 when the government banned private companies from operating in the Marange diamond fields, will start selling gems it stockpiled last year in the first quarter of 2018.</p>
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<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw" data-reactid="35">Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Ed Soddard</p>
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Winston Chitando

Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa names new cabinet, ex-banker to be finance minister

Why Zimbabwe wants $11bn for its mines

Zimbabwe’s mines minister clarifies new mining rules

Why Africa Chrome Fields is investing millions into Zimbabwe

Africa Chrome Fields’ John Drummond on the mining landscape in Zimbabwe

Is now the time to invest in Zimbabwe’s mining sector?

Zimbabwe state diamond company to lift output 65% in 2018: minister

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Winston Chitando

Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa names new cabinet, ex-banker to be finance minister

Why Zimbabwe wants $11bn for its mines

Zimbabwe’s mines minister clarifies new mining rules

Why Africa Chrome Fields is investing millions into Zimbabwe

Africa Chrome Fields’ John Drummond on the mining landscape in Zimbabwe

Is now the time to invest in Zimbabwe’s mining sector?

Zimbabwe state diamond company to lift output 65% in 2018: minister

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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