Mines minister, Obert Mpofu, conceded that Zimbabwe stood to benefit if the gas was exploited, but would not explain the delay in finding an investor.
“The main challenge has been securing investors for the deposits and it is a large area from Lupane to Botswana so serious investments are to be made. We stand to benefit in a lot of areas, estimated revenue of up to a billion dollars and commodities like fertiliser, petrol and power generation,” he said.
Industry experts say the Hwange area holds vast deposits of coal-bed methane gas — some of it estimated to be 95% pure methane — hidden between Hwange and neighbouring Botswana.
In 2007, the government declared the exploration of the gas project a priority area, but to date no meaningful development has taken place in the area.
Critics blame policy instability and indigenisation laws for driving out investors, leaving the Lupane project in limbo.
“One of the country’s biggest challenges has been the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, which is deterring potential investors in such projects. This case could also be one whereby the government is lax since it’s not as lucrative as the diamond industry,” said one economist who requested anonymity.
But Mpofu chose to differ, arguing that he was not aware of any investor who had been driven out because of the indigenisation programme.
“It’s just a myth that the Indigenisation Act discouraged investors from investing in mining activities. Countries around us all have indigenisation clauses one way or another in their economies. Even America has an indigenisation policy. This is clearly the work of people who hate the way we run our country,” he added.
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Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, Gideon Gono, has warned the country might lose out on its rich coal-bed methane gas reserves as Botswana has already started tapping into the shared resource.
Last October, Energy and Power Development deputy minister, Hubert Nyanhongo, also hinted that the gas was escaping through holes drilled by an unnamed French firm, which abandoned exploration five years ago.
