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Joseph Madzimure Senior Reporter

AFRICAN governments, including Zimbabwe should invest more in value addition and beneficiation of its minerals to realise the more value from its resources, Organisation for United Africa (OUA) secretary general Mr Tinos Dumba has said.

He said African diamond and gold producing countries needed to increase beneficiation and value chain development for them to become major producers of diamond and gold products.

The African continent produces 60 percent of the world’s diamonds, but the bulk of the countries are not realising meaningful benefit due to lack of, or depressed value addition.

To this end, Mr Dumba said efforts should be made towards establishing Africa as a hub of the diamond cutting and polishing industry as well as gold processing.

Mr Dumba said time was ripe for Africa to begin consolidating its footprint in the global gold and diamond industry.

For Africa to realise its potential, there was need to boost and prioritise trade among Africa countries, focusing more on trade facilitation, promoting agricultural production, improving transportation and communication systems and putting in place viable and efficient customs procedures, said Mr Dumba.

Zimbabwe has set a target to achieve a US$12 billion mining industry by next year, with the diamond sector contributing US$1 billion.

OUA director, Ms Lineage Fombe, said one of the objectives of the organisation was to increase youth representation and participation in policy decision making structures. OUA is a national intellectual movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of unity among Africans.

Ms Fombe said it was founded on the doctrine that unity is essential to economic, social and political progress and aims to bring and uplift Africans.

“We denounce with the contempt it deserves, the notion that Africans are inferior to citizens from other continents,” she said.