Zimbabwe continues to benefit from high quality investments from China

Zimbabwe is set to consolidate its position as a global lithium producing giant following a US$40 million investment in a lithium plant by a company from China, underlining that the country is a destination of high quality investment from the Asian giant.
Shengxiang Investments (Pvt) Limited, said to be one of China’s biggest companies specialising in battery recycling, is building a US$40 million modern lithium processing plant in Goromonzi District, Mashonaland East province.
The investment is coming with more jobs for local people, infrastructure development and contributions to the Fiscus.
High quality investment is one of the pillars of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) whose other pillars include opening up of trade routes, infrastructural development and economic development.
Zimbabwe is one of the countries in the BRI network, which she joined in 2018.
BRI has massive benefits for all countries involved, from Asia to Europe and Africa.
A fortnight ago, the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) announced the approval of public-private partnerships (PPPs) meant to stimulate economic growth, jobs, connectivity, and inclusivity.
Among them, a deal between the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and Afrochine Smelting Ltd – a Chinese company which is part of the Tsingshan Holding Group – was approved to assist Zimbabwe to resume copper mining at Sanyati Mine at a cost of US$22,9 million.
The latest investment by the Chinese metals giant means the company has interests straddling coal, chrome, iron, lithium and copper. The latter two are new energy materials that are key in the global push towards cleaner energies.

Opportunities
Former Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Guo Shaochun last year said: “China’s investment in Zimbabwe has made up for the shortage of funds and technology and other tough challenges faced by Zimbabwe’s economy. In this process, Chinese enterprises have also gained opportunities for development.”
This underscores the importance of Chinese investments in Zimbabwe, and the growing mutual benefits to the two sides.
In the process, Chinese investment has become the biggest FDI bloc, with massive economic stimulus, including creation of 100000 jobs.
Chinese companies have spent more than US$1 billion acquiring mining sites in Zimbabwe over the past two years and have now completed construction or upgrades of lithium processing plants.
Shanghai Stock Exchange-listed Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, China’s Sinomine Resource Group, and Shenzhen-listed lithium materials producer Chengxin Lithium Group are three Chinese mining companies that have recently commissioned processing plants in Zimbabwe, which holds one of the world’s largest hard-rock lithium reserves.
Recently, Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, a unit of the Chinese mining giant Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, formally commissioned a US$300 million lithium processing plant at the Arcadia hard-rock lithium mine.
The plant opened by Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, an arm of Chinese company Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, has a capacity to process 4.5 million metric tons of hard rock lithium into concentrate for export per year.
Another firm, China’s Sinomine Resource Group’s Zimbabwe lithium unit, has just completed building a spodumene concentrate plant at its Bikita minerals site, with a total price tag of US$300 million for expansion and exploration.
Last year, Sinomine bought Bikita, the country’s oldest lithium mines, for US$180 million with the aim of producing spodumene concentrate and petalite, which is used in the ceramics and glass industries.
The plant will produce 300,000 tonnes of chemical grade spodumene concentrate annually for export once the Bikita project reaches its full production capacity.
In May, another Chinese company, Chengxin Lithium Group, commissioned a 300,000 tonne per year lithium concentrator at the Sabi Star mine in eastern Zimbabwe.

Lithium
Zimbabwe, a mineral rich country is seeing rapid economic transformation due to the availability of lithium.
A “future facing” commodity, lithium is a key component in hybrid and electric vehicle batteries, electronic devices and battery storage power stations that will help reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change, in what has come to be known as global decarbonisation.
China is dominating the electric vehicle market, due to its investment in research and development that started in the 1980s.
The recent upsurge in the manufacturing and consumption of EVs, as electric vehicles are also known, has meant that China is in the driving seat of the global market, ahead of countries such as the US and Japan.
China has the world’s best battery manufacturing technologies, hence it has become the destination for lithium. Transferring technology and skills is set to benefit countries like Zimbabwe – and this comes with investment
On the other hand, China is also the leading manufacturer of electronics powers by lithium batteries – from small gadgets like watches and toys to computers and solar batteries.
China’s advancement in renewable energies has put it in a leading position globally, and is set to attain carbon neutrality by 2050, achieving the feat better and faster than any country.
It is President Xi’s vision to link high quality development with environmental responsibility and custodianship.
Zimbabwe has this become part of these unfolding global developments, attaining strong benefits for local interests in the process.