Africa’s largest lithium producer is exploring plans to use future mineral revenues to finance roads and railways with China, in a move that could deepen Beijing’s role in one of the world’s fastest-growing battery mineral supply chains.
Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said the government has opened discussions with China Railway Group on resource-backed financing arrangements to support transport infrastructure, especially roads and rail.
“We spoke to them about resource-linked debt instruments that we want to explore going forward to support our infrastructure development, especially roads and rail,” Ncube told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Dalian.
“It’s now up to us to decide which roads we want to develop, how much these roads will cost, how much we will raise in terms of toll fees, and how much still remains to be filled by investment in a natural resource, how much return it will generate towards extinguishing the loan,” Ncube said.
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