Zimbabwe has suspended the export of unprocessed minerals in order to develop domestic processing and capture greater added value, President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced.
"Zimbabwe is renowned for its vast deposits of critical minerals and has long been a known supplier of raw materials to other industries around the world, while our own industry stagnated and became obsolete. Under my leadership and with my administration, we said: 'No more.' This situation is changing," Mnangagwa said in a statement quoted by Herald Online.
According to Mnangagwa, the government is building an economy based on value addition and industrial processing of mineral resources.
"Under the Second Republic, our goal is to build a high-value mining-based economy. Through beneficiation and industrialization, we want to ensure maximum value from our available natural resources," the statement read.
Mnangagwa expressed confidence that the country has the necessary capabilities to implement this strategy and called on partners and stakeholders to assist Harare in transitioning to the new resource management model.
In May, the Zimbabwean government approved a bill providing for the reduction and elimination of certain fees in the mining sector.