AFP, Harare :
Reeling from decades of economic mismanagement, Zimbabwe is banking on gold to shore up revenue and tackle the upshots of rampant hyperinflation, corruption and coronavirus restrictions.
Global gold prices have surged more than 30 percent this year, topping a record $2,000 (1,700 euros) an ounce in August, as the precious metal became a safe haven for investors in the face of Covid-induced volatility.
The landlocked southern African country boasts vast gold reserves, alongside chrome, diamonds, platinum and another 40 other minerals.
The government is eyeing gold as a possible magic bullet for an economy forecast to contract by a tenth this year, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to official figures, gold production in the first eight months of 2020 rose 10 percent, driven especially by output from small-scale miners.
Plans are under way to reap $12 billion (10.2 billion euros) from mining by 2023, mainly through gold.
The sector already accounts for 60 percent of Zimbabwean exports, raking in around $1 billion a year, and represents half of the southern African country’s foreign direct investment.
“Mining will be a leading sector in sustaining high and shared growth,” Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said in a pre-budget statement last month.
Gold is expected to bring in $4 billion a year by 2023, followed by platinum at $3 billion, although the government gave few details about how such a huge increase from current figures will be achieved.
And experts warn that the ambitious plans face big hurdles.
One is that miners, particularly small-scale miners, are not happy with the system which requires them to sell their gold to the state-owned buyer, Fidelity Printers and Refiners.
Reeling from decades of economic mismanagement, Zimbabwe is banking on gold to shore up revenue and tackle the upshots of rampant hyperinflation, corruption and coronavirus restrictions.
Global gold prices have surged more than 30 percent this year, topping a record $2,000 (1,700 euros) an ounce in August, as the precious metal became a safe haven for investors in the face of Covid-induced volatility.
The landlocked southern African country boasts vast gold reserves, alongside chrome, diamonds, platinum and another 40 other minerals.
The government is eyeing gold as a possible magic bullet for an economy forecast to contract by a tenth this year, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to official figures, gold production in the first eight months of 2020 rose 10 percent, driven especially by output from small-scale miners.
Plans are under way to reap $12 billion (10.2 billion euros) from mining by 2023, mainly through gold.
The sector already accounts for 60 percent of Zimbabwean exports, raking in around $1 billion a year, and represents half of the southern African country’s foreign direct investment.
“Mining will be a leading sector in sustaining high and shared growth,” Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said in a pre-budget statement last month.
Gold is expected to bring in $4 billion a year by 2023, followed by platinum at $3 billion, although the government gave few details about how such a huge increase from current figures will be achieved.
And experts warn that the ambitious plans face big hurdles.
One is that miners, particularly small-scale miners, are not happy with the system which requires them to sell their gold to the state-owned buyer, Fidelity Printers and Refiners.
