Speaking
after
touring
key
chemical
and
manufacturing
companies
in
Kwekwe
yesterday
including
Intrachem,
Sable
Chemicals,
Global
Union
Alloy
and
Zimchem,
VP
Chiwenga
said
the
country
must
urgently
scale
up
domestic
explosives
production
to
support
the
mining
industry.
“We
visited
Intrachem,
a
company
that
is
making
explosives
specifically
for
the
mining
industry.
The
mining
sector
is
growing
rapidly
and
to
extract
the
minerals
underground
requires
a
lot
of
explosives,”
he
said.
Zimbabwe’s
mining
industry
has
expanded
significantly
in
recent
years
as
Government
pushes
to
maximise
the
country’s
mineral
resources,
which
Vice
President
Chiwenga
described
as
a
key
pillar
of
the
economy.
“When
I
first
visited
the
Midlands,
I
said
there
are
three
major
areas
that
anchor
our
economy
—
mining,
agriculture
and
tourism.
Mining
is
a
God-given
resource
and
it
is
growing
very
fast,”
he
said.
However,
the
Vice
President
said
local
explosives
production
has
lagged
behind
demand,
forcing
the
country
to
rely
heavily
on
imports.
“We
have
been
importing
these
explosives
because
what
we
were
producing
locally
was
not
sufficient.
Even
now,
after
seeing
the
facilities
and
hearing
the
briefings
from
management,
we
are
still
far
behind
where
we
need
to
be,”
the
Vice
President
said.
Despite
the
gap,
Chiwenga
expressed
optimism
after
observing
developments
at
Intrachem,
praising
the
company’s
technical
team
for
efforts
to
expand
capacity.
“I
was
quite
amazed
to
see
the
development
by
the
young
team
there,”
he
said.
He
said
the
way
forward
lies
in
stronger
partnerships
between
industry
and
academic
institutions
to
drive
innovation
and
product
development.
“We
have
encouraged
them
to
work
hand
in
glove
with
technical
institutions
such
as
Kwekwe
Polytechnic
and
Midlands
State
University
in
developing
explosives
that
can
address
different
conditions,”
VP
Chiwenga
said.
According
to
the
Vice
President,
increased
collaboration
between
companies
such
as
Intrachem
and
Sable
Chemicals
could
significantly
accelerate
the
growth
of
the
explosives
manufacturing
sector.
“With
Sable
Chemicals
coming
on
board
from
the
end
of
April,
we
see
this
industry
growing
very
fast.
The
two
companies
will
work
hand
in
glove,
together
with
other
Government
departments,”
he
said.
He
added
that
the
Ministry
of
Higher
and
Tertiary
Education
would
play
a
critical
role
in
research
and
development
aimed
at
strengthening
local
explosives
manufacturing
capacity.
“The
Ministry
of
Higher
and
Tertiary
Education
will
play
a
major
role
in
the
development
of
our
explosives
industry,”
said
VP
Chiwenga.
The
Vice
President
said
the
long-term
goal
is
to
eliminate
imports
and
ensure
Zimbabwe
produces
enough
explosives
to
fully
support
its
mining
sector.
“Once
these
plans
are
implemented,
we
will
stop
importing
explosives,”
he
said.
Industry
analysts
say
boosting
local
explosives
production
could
lower
mining
costs,
improve
supply
reliability
and
strengthen
value
chains
in
Zimbabwe’s
resource-driven
economy.
Post
published
in:
Business