Zimbabwean
authorities
say
the
lithium,
platinum
and
nickel
production
will
be
used
to
make
solar
batteries.
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
said
the
project,
about
an
hour’s
drive
northwest
of
Harare,
would
help
turn
around
the
decline
of
Zimbabwe’s
economy.
“The
mines-to-energy
park
will
augment
my
government’s
thrust
of
value
addition
and
beneficiation
of
minerals,
as
well
as
bolster
the
crucial
role
that
minerals’
value
chain
plays
in
the
national
industrialization
agenda,”
he
said.
“It
is
set
to
mark
the
inception
of
a
lithium
ion
battery
chain
in
Zimbabwe.
It
is
set
to
place
Zimbabwe
among
the
world’s
producers
of
lithium
ion
batteries.”
Zimbabwe’s
government
plans
to
provide
the
land
and
minerals
for
the
park,
while
the
two
Chinese
companies
investing
will
bring
in
machinery
and
needed
funds.
Mnangagwa
is
aiming
for
a
$12
billion
mining
industry
in
Zimbabwe
by
next
year.
Lionel
Mhlanga,
director
at
Hong
Kong
Eagle
International
Holdings,
one
of
the
Chinese
investors,
said
the
project
“will
revolutionize
the
mining
and
energy
sector
of
Zimbabwe,
ensuring
optimum
value
addition
for
all
minerals
extracted
locally.
Zimbabwe
is
endowed
with
most
if
not
all
minerals
needed
in
this
clean
energy
drive.
Eagle
International
Investment
Holdings
and
Pacific
Goal
Investment
are
partnering
with
the
government
of
Zimbabwe
to
set
up
this
industrial
park.
This
multibillion-dollar
project,
on
completion,
will
have
a
turnover
exceeding
$13
billion
annually.”
But
critics
note
Zimbabwe
has
announced
several
multibillion-dollar
projects
in
recent
years
that
fell
apart,
include
mining
by
Russian
investors
for
platinum
and
Chinese
for
diamonds.
The
projects
that
do
go
forward
rarely
benefit
ordinary
Zimbabweans,
said
opposition
lawmaker
and
rights
activist
Daniel
Molokele.
“The
mining
model
that
we
have,
which
favors
countries
such
as
China,
is
a
big
disadvantage
for
the
poor
people
of
Zimbabwe
because
the
investment
method
is
called
extractive
mining,”
he
said.
“It’s
to
the
advantage
of
the
investor
[rather]
than
to
local
communities.
So
Zimbabwe
is
not
benefiting
—
at
least
at
common
citizen
level
—
until
and
unless
we
come
up
with
a
mining
model
that
favors
local
communities,
that
allows
for
shareholding
and
profiting
for
local
communities
in
all
mining
investments.”
Zimbabwe
is
home
to
valuable
minerals
such
as
gold,
iron,
diamonds,
lithium,
platinum
and
chrome.
But
the
World
Bank
says
half
of
Zimbabweans
live
on
less
than
$1
per
day.
Farai
Maguwu,
the
director
of
the
Centre
for
Natural
Resource
Governance,
a
group
working
to
improve
governance
of
Zimbabwe’s
natural
resources,
said
the
metals
park
deal
needs
to
be
transparent
and
aimed
at
helping
locals,
or
else
Zimbabwe
will
remain
a
resource-cursed
country.
“If
the
government
is
merely
looking
at
creating
jobs,
then
that’s
a
very
minimal
expectation
that
we
can
have
out
of
this
project,”
he
said.
“What
we
see
with
the
Chinese
in
Zimbabwe
is
that
everything
they
are
getting,
they
are
taking
to
China.
That’s
why
the
influx
of
Chinese
investors
in
Zimbabwe
is
not
contributing
anything,
even
to
liquidity,
in
our
financial
sector,
simply
because
the
Zimbabweans
are
not
involved
in
these
projects.
We
are
simply
giving
them
access
to
our
resources
without
any
plan.”
The
battery
metals
park
is
expected
to
be
up
to
50
square
kilometers
in
size
when
completed
in
about
three
years.