Mining insiders await Zim boom after Mnangagwa delivered his side of a secret bargain

Visited the annual Mines & Money conference yesterday, London’s four-day gathering of the good, great and decidedly dodgy who make this such a fascinating sector. In summary, miners had a pretty awful 2017 where money dried up and dealmaking fell by a quarter. But they’re looking forward to a much better 2018.

A strong South African contingent was there, including Sibanye Stillwater’s CEO Neal Froneman who says the industry did itself no favours through the acquisition frenzy at the very top of the last commodity cycle. But there is good news: Froneman reckons the global shift from internal combustion to electric cars is attracting investors to mining from a group which previously focused only on the tech sector. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is making mining sexy again.

Even more interesting for me was the buzz around Zimbabwe. In a private discussion, one of the mining sector’s leading headhunters said his phone started ringing off the hook the day after Zim’s 37 year dictatorship ended. Seems every mining company with any ambition wants in on the action as this minerals rich nation throws off the yoke of socialist cronyism.

According to insiders at the event, new president Emmerson Mnangagwa was promised piles of investment from the UK, US and China provided he could engineer Robert Mugabe’s departure in a bloodless coup. He has put mining and agriculture at the centre of Zim’s economic rebound strategy. Mnangagwa has delivered. Let’s hope the money men meet their side of the bargain.

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