General

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, the Central Bank of Zimbabwe announced on February 2 that it would allow exporters, including mining enterprises, to retain 75% of export foreign currency income. The current 60% ceiling has caused dissatisfaction in the industry.

However, this new measure is still far from the requirement of mining enterprises to retain 80% of their foreign currency income.

This southern African country with a serious shortage of foreign currency requires all exporters to exchange part of their export earnings into local currency at the official exchange rate far higher than the black market, causing losses to enterprises. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.

Some multinational mining enterprises, including Anglo-American Platinum, Impala Platinum, Sibanye-Stillwater, Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine Resources, Qingshan Holding Group and Sinosteel Group, have mines in Zimbabwe.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) said in a monetary policy statement on the 2nd that "the export reserve of all industries was uniformly raised to 75%", according to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation.

Zimbabwe is rich in mineral resources, including gold, platinum group metals, coal and lithium, which has attracted the attention of foreign enterprises. However, for many years, due to the uncertainty of foreign exchange rules and policies, foreign enterprises are reluctant to invest in large quantities. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.

In December of last year, Zimbabwe banned the export of lithium ores, with the goal of cracking down on the manual mining that carried out predatory mining in old mines.

However, the ban raised concerns about the resurgence of resource nationalism in Zimbabwe. Four years ago, the Zimbabwean government abolished a law requiring local control over all major mines. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.