Mines minister Winston Chitando, pictured, says the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe initiative to introduce gold coins was a milestone for Zimbabweans to invest and save their currency using the precious metal.
On Monday RBZ governor John Mangudya introduced measures to stabilise the economic meltdown that include the introduction of gold coins as a store of value, among other things.
In an interview with the Daily News yesterday, after the handover ceremony of 30 push carts by Varun Beverages and Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) to women in mining, Chitando said it was time for citizens to shift from the traditional way and start to invest their money in gold coins to store value.
“What it means is it gives the ability to the Zimbabwean population to be able to invest in gold.
“If someone has some cash, one of the instructions that he or she can consider is gold coins. The gold coin is very interchangeable and very easy to market.
“You can buy and sell it so it is much easier. We are always traditional in terms of saving looked at in the financial sector which is the savings account, and current account in the entire stock market but right now you could go to coins.
“It gives the ability for Zimbabweans to be able to invest in gold. It is a very key achievement,” Chitando told the Daily News.
He added that small-scale miners were playing a significant role in contributing to the 12 billion milestones in line with the country’s vision 2030.
“Small-scale miners are vital players that are also contributing to the target of reaching 12 billion milestones.
“Hence there is a need to support them as the government in order to achieve this target and in line with the vision 2030 propounded by President Emmerson Mnangagwa”.
Meanwhile, ZMF president Henrietta Rushwaya said the organisation would continue employing women by bringing initiatives that promote them in mining in order to earn a better living.
“We really care that small-scale women miners also find something that can make sure that they get to feed their families, send their children to school, and earn an extra income.
“The programme of push carts has brought joy to the women in mining and we expect this to benefit women in eight districts.
“We are going to distribute plus or minus 2 000 carts to the women. We say to them (women) now you can use those carts by selling various drinks and earn some profit from that.
“The next thing we expect women to do is also to be orderly in the way they do things. If one wants to borrow money from an institution, they can use such records as part of their KYC and we are striving to make women be owners of their property rights,” Rushwaya said.
She also said they were working to attract foreign investors to partner with small-scale miners thereby promoting mining in Zimbabwe.
by
Brandon Josphat
STAFF WRITER