Zimbabwe to set up US$20 milllion lithium battery factory

ZIMBABWE is set to build a US$20 million lithium battery manufacturing factory as the country seeks to ramp up value addition efforts, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube says.

This comes as Mines minister Winston Chitando banned the exports of raw lithium last December.

“Some of you were surprised when we said there would be no more exports of un-beneficiated lithium because we were generally worried as a government that resources were being spat out raw. We are aware that they are being sold at 10 percent of the market price,” Ncube told the American Chamber of Commerce in Zimbabwe (AmCham) on Wednesday.

AmCham chairman Marc Holtzman, who is also CBZ Holdings’ chairman (left) and Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube

“We even know how much it sells for, but that process was also promoting environmental degradation wherever these rocks were picked up. So, we had to do that because beneficiation is part of the process of diversifying the economy and creating jobs.”

The southern African country is estimated to have some of the world’s largest reserves of hard rock lithium, a critical mineral in electric vehicles and related industries.

“I am prepared to put down $20 million for the government to have skin in the game and I am looking for partners,” Ncube said.

He said there were so many investment opportunities in the country that investors could take advantage of.

“We have all the right incentives; we can give you Export Processing Zones status or national project status, we are ready to give those kinds of incentives, we have a mirror of tax incentives right across the board,” he said.

“So, we will continue to refine the economy in terms of other policy measures.”

Speaking at the same occasion, AmCham chairman Marc Holtzman, who is also CBZ Holdings’ chairman, said they will continue to play their part in ensuring that the country receives the much-needed investment.

“Zimbabwe is a unique place for many reasons, but it holds the distinction of perhaps being the world’s most developing country not to have AmCham till now,” he said.

“AmCham is not just about American investors coming here, we are a facilitator and we are here to encourage Zimbabwean investment in America. So, it is a two-way stream, it is going to be a very active chamber and I am already pleased to say that we have had some significant visitors through the activity of Amcham just in the last week.”

According to the latest data from the office of the US Trade Representative, Zimbabwe is the United States’ 141st most prominent supplier of goods imports. Imported goods from Zimbabwe to the US in 2019 totalled US$47 million.

“I expect this to grow as Zimbabwe continues to embrace its mining sector,” AmCham executive director Richard Griffiths said.

The first AmCham event of 2023 was co-hosted by CBZ Bank with the support of the US Embassy in Zimbabwe.