RE: Zimbabwe’s new diamond policy14 Dec 2018 14:55
China printing new Zimbabwe currency in exchange for oil and diamonds
https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-151633.html
"It is all about oil and diamonds," said one envoy representing a South Asian country. "China has demanded for oil rights and exclusive access to your country's diamonds in Marange, without having to cede ownership of those assests to locals under the indigenisation threshold. It will soon not be applying to their firms coming back to mine diamonds, following a fallout with Robert Mugabe's government. Actually it could be the reason why Mugabe is no longer in power, because he wanted Chinese companies to be under Zimbabwean miners thus posing a threat to Beijing's diamond interests and long term future reserves. Marange had become their biggest foreign source of diamonds to supplement, about 50% of their proven diamond reserves concentrated in the Liaoning Province. That is why they're generously constructing the new city, and working on the new Zimbabwe dollar set to be launched in early 2020. It is being printed as we speak, but the date of introduction remains a secret."
In July 2017, Mnangagwa, then VP, was quoted by a state newspaper saying that government was "building diamond and gold reserves to back the local currency upon its re-introduction in future".
"We are building reserves of gold and diamonds which if they reach a certain level I will not tell you here, it will then allow us to introduce our own currency that will be backed by those minerals. I am not at liberty to disclose to you the level that we want those minerals to reach before they can back our own currency," Mnangagwa was quoted as saying.
Sign In
Follow the stocks
