Election Will Spur Investment, Says Tapiwa Mashakada

Mashakada was giving a vote of thanks at a meeting organised by the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe (CMZ) to launch its new investment booklet for the gold industry.

The document was compiled by Paul Burton from the United Kingdom.

“We are going for the election next year and the winner will continue honouring what has been started by the Government of National Unity,” Mashakada told invited guests at the breakfast meeting.

He said the GNU was working despite some constraints and that this would end after the election next year.

He said the Referendum would go ahead before the election is held next year.

Mashakada said the economy was still struggling, especially the mining sector which needed major capital investment and infrastructural development.

President Robert Mugabe of Zanu (PF) and Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC-T have already said they are ready for the election next year.

Speaking at the same occasion the President of the CMZ, Victor Gapare, said the struggling mining industry needed between US$3 billion and US$5 billion investment to get back on track.

He said without this major capital investment the country would fail to regain its status of being a major player in gold mining.

“The Chamber has carried out a survey of its members on the funding requirements of the industry over the next five years,” Gapare said.

“Indications are that the industry will require US$3 to US$5 billion over the next five years to recapitalise. This is a significant amount of money in any man’s language and our economy just does not have this kind of money at this stage. It is important, therefore, that as a nation we create the best possible environment to be able to attract investment especially direct foreign investment into the country as we compete for resources with other nations.”