CHINA IN ZIMBABWE: THE GREAT RESOURCE GRAB

It is shocking to learn that over 85,000 Chinese nationals now live in Zimbabwe. This figure is not just a number—it represents a deeper issue of exploitation and resource pillaging. These Chinese nationals are not settlers or migrants looking for a new home; they are here to work, strip our country of its resources, and leave.

Zimbabwe is fast becoming a resource colony for China. We are the new Australia, but without the benefits Australians enjoy. Our iron ore, coal, and limestone are being extracted for steel production. China is not only targeting these minerals but also exploiting the pristine skies of Africa to relocate its polluting industries. While their country benefits, ours is left scarred and impoverished.

Zimbabwe boasts the largest chrome deposits in the world, estimated at 9 billion tonnes and valued at an unbelievable US$100 trillion. We also have enormous lithium reserves, loaded with other critical minerals that we do not fully understand or benefit from. Instead, we applaud exporting raw lithium concentrate to China, worth US$4 billion annually. What we fail to see is that the hidden value of other minerals in this concentrate could be worth many times more.

The same is true for our gold. A quarter of our gold production goes to China, but no one knows how this happens. Evidence of large-scale Chinese investments in mining equipment and machinery for small-scale mining is everywhere. What they leave behind are destroyed environments—moonscapes of countryside that look like they’ve been through war.

The exploitation does not stop there. Chinese firms have taken control of our finest coal reserves, using them for smelters and exporting surplus coal. These activities started with the Marange diamond fields, where Chinese corporations joined forces with our military elites. Between 2008 and today, an estimated US$30 billion worth of raw diamonds was produced. Yet, the people of Marange remain trapped in poverty, with no tarred roads but a world-class airport to fly the diamonds out.

The company involved in Marange was once a small rural firm in China, owned by the Red Army. Today, it is a multinational corporation with top-class hotels, private jets, and its African headquarters in Mozambique. Meanwhile, the people of Zimbabwe see no benefit. The wealth generated by our diamonds has enriched Chinese corporations and a few Zimbabwean elites, leaving the rest of us with nothing.

Chinese investments in Zimbabwe’s infrastructure are equally alarming. Their focus is entirely on their needs—power, water, railways, and ports to support their extractive activities. For example, they are planning an artificial port in Mozambique to handle 200 million tonnes of cargo annually—four times the capacity of Maputo. None of this benefits ordinary Zimbabweans.

At Hwange Colliery, smoke stacks from Chinese-owned coke batteries pollute the air while heavy trucks destroy our roads. Chinese companies extract coal to power their furnaces cheaply while we face skyrocketing electricity costs. They build coal-based power stations at a fraction of the cost of government projects, ensuring they profit while Zimbabweans struggle.

Even with our lithium and steel, there is no value addition in Zimbabwe. The steel plant produces billets for export to China, where they are turned into finished products. The same goes for lithium, which is exported in raw form without any plans for a local refinery.

The Zimbabwean government has allowed this exploitation by failing to demand fair terms. Unlike Australia, which sells its minerals at market prices and benefits from China’s industrial expansion, Zimbabwe is left with environmental destruction, poverty, and debt. Overpriced infrastructure projects, like Hwange Power Station and railway lines in Kenya and Ethiopia, are financed on commercial terms that only benefit China.

We must demand better. China’s investments should serve Zimbabwe’s interests, not just their own. They must employ Zimbabweans, invest in value addition, and ensure that their activities contribute to national development. Most importantly, our officials must stop taking bribes that sell out our country’s future.

The rape and pillage of Zimbabwe’s resources cannot continue. If we remain passive, the wealth of our nation will disappear, leaving us with nothing but scars on the land. It is time to hold China and our leaders accountable. Zimbabwe deserves better, and the fight to protect our resources must start now.