The Chronicle
KUVIMBA Mining House, which has both private and State shareholding and has been resuscitating gold mines, has been chosen by Cabinet as the investment partner for the resuscitation of the defunct Redcliff-based Ziscosteel.
Government said Kuvimba Mining House was selected after intense due diligence and meticulous screening of nine prospective partners that had shown interests in investing in the resuscitation of the giant steel manufacturing company.
The new partner for Ziscosteel recently resuscitated Jena and Shamva gold mines in the Midlands and Mashonaland Central provinces respectively.
Last year Kuvimba Mining House paid an inaugural US$5,2 million dividend to Government and some of its local shareholders following a positive performance.
The company has already demonstrated that it has the capacity to turn around defunct companies and we have no doubt that Ziscosteel has at last found a committed local investor.
The revival of Ziscosteel has been on the cards for a long time and industries that used to rely on it for raw materials had lost hope.
The company which used to be the backbone of Zimbabwe’s industries, stopped production in 2008 due to a myriad of challenges blamed mostly on mismanagement.
When the Second Republic came into office, there were loud calls to prioritise the revival of Ziscosteel which could save the country billions of dollars it is spending on importing steel and steel products annually.
Several global steel giants including Essar Holdings, Jindal Steel and Power and Global Steel Holdings all from India and R and F from Hong Kong have shown interest in investing in Ziscosteel but have been reluctant to commit funds.
Now that a local company is leading the resuscitation process, it might entice these global steel giants to commit funds.
The country is spending about US$1,1 billion annually to import steel and steel products, a confirmation that Zisco’s products have a ready market locally.
The company has a potential to also export steel worth US$1 billion annually.
This, we want to believe, is what should push a serious investor to commit funds in the revival of Ziscosteel.
The giant steel manufacturing company used to be Africa’s biggest integrated steel manufacturer and its resuscitation will boost other firms such as Hwange Colliery Company, National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) and many other downstream industries.
It is our fervent hope that Kuvimba Mining House will once again demonstrate that local investors have the capacity to revive many of our defunct companies.
Article Source: The Chronicle