Investors Implored To Take Advantage of SEZ Policy

By Post Business Reporter

Bulawayo-There is a critical lack of awareness around a policy that designates any rural manufacturing setup as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), as the initiative is not fully utilised by investors, a Cabinet Minister said.

Minister of Industry and Commerce Mangaliso Ndlovu said this on the sidelines of the just ended 2025 edition of Mining, Engineering and Transport Expo (Mine Entra) held at the Zimbabwe International Conference and Exhibition Smart City (ZICES).

The minister explained that there was low uptake of a policy that offers significant tax and operational benefits, designed specifically to decentralize the nation’s economic activity.

“I don’t think many even know this policy exists. But if you build a factory in a rural area, it’s automatically designated as an SEZ. We want more people to take advantage of this,” he said.

Ndlovu also said mining should now move from being an export pipeline to an engine for rural based industrialization and town building.

The minister challenged Zimbabwe to relook at the mining-industrial relationship, the sector should promote the growth for rural-based industrialization and birth of new towns.

“If it was not for the mining sector, towns like Hwange would never have existed. But ask yourself how many new towns have we birthed since independence because of mining?” he asked.

The minister implored the sector to sow deeper long-lasting roots in communities through localized value chains, rural factory development and stronger linkages with manufacturing.

Ndlovu argued that the growth of the country`s mining sector, now poised to become the largest contributor to national Gross Domestic Product(GDP)must not just be seen in terms of fiscal benefits but as a catalyst to “reorganize the geography of opportunity.”

“I was in Bubi recently. The level of mining activity there doesn’t reflect its settlement pattern. That’s a missed opportunity. If the local government declared it a town board today and built proper infrastructure, the rest would follow factories, services, jobs.

“We should not be importing tomatoes in Victoria Falls when there’s land and water in Hwange. This is the power of rural industrialization. Let mining not just dig out minerals, let it give birth to industries, communities, and hope.

“Let’s stop looking at mines in isolation. If a cluster of mines exists in Bubi, why not one textile factory to supply workwear, one processing unit for local produce, one assembly line for simple components? That’s how you grow real economies,” he explained.

Minister Ndlovu urged the mining sector to forge a new social contract where its success is measured not only by tonnage and revenue but by its power to empower communities, curb rural-to-urban migration, and become the beating heart of a revitalized, geographically balanced economy.

“Let mining not just lift GDP, it must lift lives. This is not about targets and tonnage. It’s about building an economy that lives where it works,” said Ndlovu.