The Mining Indaba stands as the most significant global platform dedicated to African mining investment. Each year, it brings together governments, investors, mining companies, financiers, technology providers, and policy leaders to shape the sector’s direction across the continent. For Zimbabwe, participation is not symbolic; it is strategic. It is about positioning, partnership, and progress.
Zimbabwe’s presence at Mining Indaba reflects a deliberate commitment to engage the global mining community where decisions are influenced, capital is allocated, and partnerships are formed. As a country endowed with a wide range of mineral resources — including gold, platinum group metals, lithium, chrome, diamonds, and coal — Zimbabwe occupies an essential place in Africa’s mining landscape. Yet, natural resources alone do not attract investment. Investors respond to access, information, engagement, and confidence. That is why forums like Mining Indaba matter.
This platform allows us to tell our story directly, not through assumptions, but through structured dialogue. It enables us to present our project pipeline, explain our regulatory environment, and demonstrate our readiness to support responsible mining investment. More importantly, it allows us to listen — to understand the investor expectations, technological trends, financing models, and sustainability standards that are increasingly shaping investment decisions worldwide.
Mining today is not what it was a decade ago. The sector is undergoing rapid transformation driven by technological advances, environmental standards, and shifts in global demand. Automation, digital exploration tools, data-driven operations, cleaner energy integration, and more intelligent processing methods are redefining competitiveness. At the same time, global demand for critical minerals, particularly those linked to the energy transition, is rising sharply. Lithium and other battery minerals are now central to industrial strategy discussions across major economies. Zimbabwe is well-positioned within this new mineral economy, but competitiveness requires continuous engagement with innovation and best practices.
Our objective at Mining Indaba is, therefore, twofold: to attract investment and to acquire insight. We are meeting with investors and suppliers not only to promote opportunities but also to understand how Zimbabwe can continue to improve its investment proposition. Technology providers are demonstrating solutions that will enhance efficiency, safety, traceability, and environmental performance. These are not abstract innovations; they are practical tools that can strengthen productivity and sustainability within our mining sector.
Strengthening investor confidence
Investment attraction is most effective when it is targeted and supported by credible facilitation. Zimbabwe has been strengthening its investment support systems to ensure that investors experience coordination rather than fragmentation. Efficient licensing support, more transparent processes, and structured investor after-care are all part of building long-term investor confidence. Engagement at the Mining Indaba allows us to demonstrate these improvements and reassure investors that Zimbabwe is open for business.
There is also a broader strategic dimension to our participation. Mining is not an isolated sector; it is an anchor industry with strong linkages into manufacturing, energy, transport, and services. Well-structured mining investment stimulates infrastructure development, skills transfer, supplier ecosystems, and export growth. Our message to partners is, therefore, not limited to extraction; it extends to value addition and beneficiation. We are encouraging investment models that support processing, downstream industries, and local value chains. The long-term national benefit of mining lies not only in what is extracted but in what is built around it.
Benchmarking and sustainability
Conferences like Mining Indaba are also where relationships are built, and relationships remain central to investment decisions. Deals are rarely concluded in a single meeting; they are developed through trust, technical engagement, and sustained dialogue. The conversations held here often become feasibility studies tomorrow and investment agreements later. Our role is to ensure that Zimbabwe is present at the start of those conversations and active throughout their development.
Equally important is the opportunity to benchmark. By interacting with other mining jurisdictions, we gain perspective on policy approaches, regulatory models, incentive structures, and sustainability frameworks. This comparative insight helps inform how we refine our own systems. Competitiveness is not static; it must be continually reviewed and strengthened. Exposure to global practice enables evidence-based improvement.
Sustainability is another central theme shaping modern mining investment. Environmental responsibility, community engagement, and transparent governance are no longer optional; they are core investor requirements. Zimbabwe recognises that sustainable mining practices are essential for long-term sector growth and for maintaining a social licence to operate. Engagements at Mining Indaba include discussions on environmental management systems, responsible sourcing standards, and community partnership models. These are critical to ensuring that mining development is both economically productive and socially responsible.
This article was produced by the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA). ZIDA is the country’s statutory investment promotion body, established to facilitate, register, and protect investments in Zimbabwe.
Read more on www.herald.co.zw
From dialogue to delivery
From our engagements, one message is clear: investors are looking for clarity, predictability, and partnership. They want to understand the rules, the processes, and the support structures that will enable project success. They also wish to work with host countries that are willing to engage openly and solve problems collaboratively. Zimbabwe is committed to strengthening exactly this type of investment relationship—one built on transparency, responsiveness, and mutual benefit.
We also recognise that investment attraction must translate into tangible outcomes at home. Participation in global platforms must deliver measurable returns: new projects, new technologies, new financing relationships, and new market access. Success is not measured by attendance or visibility alone, but by conversion. Our focus is, therefore, on follow-through: structured post-conference engagement, investor support, and project development pathways.
Mining Indaba provides momentum, but implementation happens on the ground. The actual value of our participation will be seen in the partnerships we formalise, the projects we advance, and the operational improvements we support across the sector. Our responsibility is to ensure that conversations held here lead to production, jobs, skills development, and economic value creation in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is open for mining investment, but more importantly, Zimbabwe is positioning itself for innovative, sustainable, and value-driven mining partnerships. We are engaging not just for capital, but for collaboration; not just for extraction, but for transformation; not just for deals, but for development impact.
That is why Mining Indaba matters, and that is what we intend to bring back home.
This article was produced by the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA). ZIDA is the country’s statutory investment promotion body, established to facilitate, register, and protect investments in Zimbabwe.-herald
