Silica is a raw material used to make ferro-silicon. POSCO said it has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the Zimbabwean firm, a rare break of good news for the southern African country that has seen efforts to attract foreign investors to help rebuild its shattered economy flounder because of uncertainty over the future political and economic direction of the country.
The announcement by POSCO, comes weeks after Prime Minister (PM) Morgan Tsvangirai visited Seoul.
The PM’s office announced that the delegation had inked a raft of business deals, which included a Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement, but President Robert Mugabe spokesman, George Charamba, disputed this. POSCO has been seeking to buy coal and iron ore mines in countries such as Australia, Canada and Brazil in a bid to secure stable supplies of these materials used to make steel products.
A unity government formed by Tsvangirai, President Robert Mugabe and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara last year to end political stalemate after inconclusive elections in 2008 has done well to stabilise Zimbabwes economy and end inflation that was estimated at more than a trillion percent at the height of the countrys economic meltdown. But unending bickering between the coalition partners as well as the governments inability to secure direct financial support from rich Western nations have held back its efforts to rebuild the economy.
However analysts say despite present uncertainty over Zimbabwes political future, the country that once had one of Africas best economies will at some point recover once the current political stalemate dissipates, giving more reason for investors to position themselves. Zimbabwe still has a good infrastructure, including road networks and sits on large mineral reserves, including the worlds second largest platinum reserves after South Africa.
Post published in: News