The investment by Essar Africa Holdings in Ziscosteel and iron ore mining in Zimbabwe remains on hold due, reportedly, to disagreements between the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development and the Ministry of Industry of Commerce over the release of mineral rights to Essar. The major stumbling block appears to be large iron ore deposits in the south of the country, to which a former Ziscosteel employee has also laid claim.
Hwange Colliery Company has announced that it has established markets for coking coal in Europe and will be exporting 40 000 tonnes per month through Maputo in Mozambique. The company has also said it has confirmed markets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and India. The biggest challenge remaining to this is the ability of the National Railways of Zimbabwe to move the coal.
Zimbabwe’s international debt problem remains of concern to the IMF, which is due to send its annual Article IV consultation team to Zimbabwe shortly. At the end of 2010 external debt stood at 118% of GDP, of which arrears made up 80% of GDP. While the economy has expanded, so has the external debt, which now equates to 103% of GDP – not as bad as Greece but more than enough for guaranteed economic stability in Zimbabwe. Other concerns expressed by the IMF are reported to include financial sector vulnerabilities, liquidity, high wage bills, ghost workers in the public sector and indigenisation.
Work on refurbishing the road from Plumtree on the Botswana border with Mutare on the Mozambique border was expected to start at the end of last month. The road links Plumtree to Bulawayo, the Midlands, Harare and then to Mutare. It is the first of two major road projects planned for Zimbabwe, the other being the Northern Corridor road from Beit Bridge on the border with South Africa through Harare to Chirundu on the Zambian border. The Plumtree-Mutare road is being financed through the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the work is being carried out by a South African contractor. The project is expected to be completed within 3 years at a cost of US$ 206 million.
The Zimbabwe International Trade Fair took place in Bulawayo at the end of April. The biggest foreign exhibitor was China, with 200 participants from 32 companies. South Africa was the second largest exhibitor and the South African pavilion was officially launched by the South African Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry. Other countries exhibiting at the Fair included Brazil, Kenya, Indonesia, Germany, Poland and Italy. However both Russia and India were absent. One press report, from the BBC, has suggested that this was a deliberate boycott “in protest against the country’s policy of taking control of foreign companies”.
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