By Rungano Dzikira

Women in mining have improved their uptake of the $20 million mining facility set aside for women by gold buyer - Fidelity Printers and Refiners, aimed at capacitating women in mining projects under its Gold Development Initiative Fund (GDIF).

Commenting on the uptake, Zimbabwe Miners Federation president, Henrietta Rushwaya said it was encouraging to see females venture into this male dominated territory and urged women to break the gender barrier and get into all mining sectors.

“It’s encouraging to see women taking up this initiative because there have been reports on low uptake from Fidelity Printers since the programme’s inception in 2016,” she said.

During the Women in Mining Conference held this July, an official from Fidelity Printers women’s desk, Charity Moyo, bemoaned women’s reluctance in taking up the facility as merely 10% were said to have approached their offices seeking to benefit.

Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprise Development, Sithembiso Nyoni likewise reiterated the need to reciprocate such tenders by government.

“Fidelity set up this loan facility specifically to support production of gold by small-scale miners, and government requested that $20 million of the $150 million fund be reserved for women miners’ capital projects, and training at the Zimbabwe School of Mines.

“There is need for women to complement these efforts because government is currently in the process of incorporating other minerals like platinum and chrome into this loan fund,” she said.

Women make up 10% of Zimbabwe’s 535 000 artisanal and small-scale miners, according to a report from the Pact Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based development non-profit.