The ManicaPost
Cletus Mushanawani
News Editor
MANICALAND’S Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is on a growth trajectory and is being powered by its vibrant mining activities, agriculture and massive investments in the manufacturing sector, The Manica Post has learnt.
Although the province was previously among the least performers in its contribution to the national GDP before the coming in of the Second Republic in 2017, the giant is awakening and now leveraging on its vast natural resources.
The top five industries contributing to the growth of Manicaland’s GDP include wholesale and retail, agriculture, mining, manufacturing and financial and insurance sectors.
In 2021, the wholesale and retail sector contributed 25.72 percent of the provincial GDP; agriculture (14.41 percent), mining (12.16 percent), manufacturing (10.54 percent) and financial and insurance (4.91 percent).
The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) is expected to present the 2022 statistics in the near future, with the figures projected to be higher.
GDP is the final value of goods and services produced within the geographic boundaries of a given area during a year and it is widely viewed as a key indicator of the economic performance of that given area.
Following Government’s stance on devolution and decentralisation, ZimStat, as part of its mandate, compiled devolution statistics, including provincial Gross Domestic Product (GDP), for the period 2019-2020.
In compiling these provincial GDP statistics, ZimStat utilised secondary data from Government agencies and surveys which include, among others, the income consumption and expenditure survey and the agriculture survey, as well as quarterly employment statistics.
Buoyed by its vibrant mining activities, with minerals such as diamonds and gold being the major minerals extracted, as well as quarry stones, granite and phosphates, a change of Manicaland’s economic fortunes is certain.
In the mining sector, gold output reached a new record high of 35.38 tonnes in 2022 nationally, and this was spurred by new mining projects, timely payments and incentives to miners.
The output was 19.5 percent up from the previous year’s output.
In 2022, Government extended an incentive to large-scale gold miners that exceed their average monthly deliveries by paying them 80 percent in foreign currency for the additional output.
Previously, large-scale gold producers were retaining 70 percent of their export proceeds in foreign currency and most gold mined from Manicaland Province was reportedly sold to Fidelity Printers.
Lithium exploration has also come on board, with a number of mines expected to be opened in Buhera, Mutare and Nyanga.
Two companies are already doing explorations for the Mutare and Nyanga projects.
For the Mutare project, the exploration includes geological mapping, soil geochemical survey, rock chip sampling and trenching to assist in identifying priority targets for a 5 000-metre exploration drilling programme that is scheduled to start in the upcoming weeks.
Canadian-based company, Li3 Lithium Corp, recently announced that it has increased its interest in the Mutare Lithium Project, up from 25 percent.
Li3 Resources now owns 50 percent of the Mutare project, while Premier Africa Minerals owns the remaining 50 percent.
Li3 Lithium chief executive officer, Mr François Auclair, has visited the Mutare project twice since February and believes that it has the potential for large-scale lithium extraction.
He was recently quoted saying: “There are numerous spodumene rich pegmatites visible at surface and the project is adjacent to the large-scale Sabi Star Lithium Mine, which recently commenced production.
“Li3 Lithium is confident about the presence of lithium, but what remains to be determined are its tonnage, grade and mineralogy. For this reason, we have mobilised a full exploration team.
“An aggressive exploration programme is now underway with initial results expected in the coming weeks and months.”
The Mutare Lithium Project consists of 1 500 hectares within the Mutare Greenstone Belt of Zimbabwe. In Nyanga, lithium exploration is being carried out at Musongwe Mountain in Nyautare area.
Acting Chief Saunyama confirmed the lithium exploration being done in his area: “Exploration work is in progress and we expect that all the due diligence will be done so that the community will also benefit. We expect positive results from the exploration.”
The tourism sector also contributed significantly to the province’s GDP with the value of investments sitting at US$5,5 million in 2022, according to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority.
The province had a total number of nine projects or investments in the tourism sector last year. Investments in the tourism sector, nationally, grew by 120 percent in 2022, totalling US$312,5 million, up from the US$142 million recorded in 2021.
Nationally, a total of 271 projects were recorded in 2022, compared to 202 in 2021. Key performance indicators in the tourism sector included average hotel room occupancy, national parks and museum entries, tourism receipts (revenue) and tourism investments.
In 2022, the average hotel room occupancy for Mutare/Vumba was on 45 percent, while Nyanga had 51 percent.
The whole province had an average of 48 percent hotel room occupancy. In terms of park entries, locals recorded 40 183, while foreigners recorded 431. Under agriculture, the province managed to harvest 1 557 914 tonnes of maize from the planted 235 544 hectares during the 2021/22 season.
More is anticipated during the 2022/23 season as 272 874ha were under maize. This marked a 16 percent increase on the land that was put under maize when compared to the 2021/22 season.
The good rains experienced in most parts of the province resulted in most farmers getting bumper harvests. The 2021/22 season also saw the province harvesting 144 633 tonnes of sorghum from 50 232ha, while 51 711ha carried sorghum during the 2022/23 season. Harvests from other crops during the 2021/22 season were as follows: finger millet (5 320t), pearl millet (44 143t), groundnuts (98 765t), round nuts (18 718t), sweet potatoes (207 529mt), sugar beans (25 388t) and African peas (14 884t).
The province increased its hectarage for the 2022/23 season for most crops. A total of 51 711ha were put under sorghum, compared to 50 232 planted during the 2021/22 season.
Finger millet had 41 852ha during 2022/23 season, compared to 31 661ha during the 2021/22 season; while pearl millet had 8 798ha, up from 5 536ha.
On cash crops, one of the country’s top forex earners, tobacco, had 183 725t during the 2021/22 season, while cotton produced 116 521mt and the soya-bean harvest stood at 82 028t in Manicaland.
The average tobacco price for 2022 stood at US$3.06 per kg, up from the US$2.79 realised during the previous selling season, leaving most farmers smiling all the way to the bank.
Director for Economic Development in the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Manicaland Provincial Affairs, Mr Munyaradzi Rubaya said although ZimStat is still complying the 2022 GDP figures, Manicaland has made serious strides in moving up the ladder of the country’s best performing provinces.
“We are still to get the latest GDP figures, but we are happy with the progress on the ground. We are moving in the right direction and our quest is to be among the top three GDP contributors in the country.
“Nothing can stop us because we are home to a lot of minerals; commercial agriculture for potatoes in Nyanga; tobacco in Makoni and Mutare districts; horticulture in Burma Valley, Chipinge and Honde Valley; pineapples in Chipinge and Honde Valley and succulents and flowers in Nyanga.
“We are also manufacturers of green fuel and tea as well as milk processors. We are also into timber processing as well as edible oil processing,” he said.
With the National Railway of Zimbabwe having refurbished eight locomotives and 443 wagons in Mutare, movement of cargo has vastly improved.
NRZ spokesperson, Mr Andrew Kunambura said:
“There has been a great improvement in terms of freight movement, spurred by export minerals like ferrochrome and coal. We are mainly moving these two minerals to Maputo and Beira and from there we mainly move grain and fuel. However, passenger services remain suspended until further notice.”
