News / National
Retired Colonel Dube appointed Marange Resources chair
03 Mar 2012 at 13:45hrs | Views
ZIMBABWE Defence Industries (ZDI) chief executive officer (CEO), Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube, has been appointed chairperson of the Marange Resources (Private) Limited with immediate effect.
A cattle rancher and a businessman of note, Dube has been ZDI CEO for about two decades. He is director of several non-listed companies, a philanthropist and a senior Zanu-PF politician who is a member of politburo, the party's supreme decision-making body in-between congresses.
Born on July 3, 1941, Dube is a war veteran and a former member of the Zimbabwe National Army where he was a director of signals. He also worked in the Ministry of Defence as a deputy secretary and director of research and development before taking up his ZDI appointment.
He was a Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) board member for eight years and deputy board chairman of TelOne for seven years.
He holds an MSc in Electro-Tech from MADI Institute of Technology in Moscow and has once been an advisory board member to the secretary-general of the United Nations on Disarmament.
Dube is not new in mining though his past involvement in the sector was restricted to an advisory role.
When contacted for comment, Dube said: "I must start by familiarising myself with the business. Given the important role diamonds are going to play in reviving our economy, I consider this appointment to be an important national responsibility which I shall try to execute diligently with my colleagues and my seniors. I am happy to say that we have an enthusiastic, energetic and professional team at Marange Resources, which is determined to play its part in resuscitating our economy".
Marange Resources is jointly owned by the ZMDC - the official holder of the Chiadzwa Marange diamond concession in conjunction with investors from China.
It is one of the few companies so far selected to develop the vast Marange diamond fields following the discovery of the gems about five years ago.
Obert Mpofu, the Mines and Mining Development Minister, estimates that Zimbabwe has potential to earn US$2 billion diamonds revenue annually. The figure, once realised would constitute a sizeable portion of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) currently under US$6 billion.
At one point, Zimbabwe's GDP was in excess of US$10 billion, but the figure came down crushing following a decade of a record-breaking recession that saw the local unit losing its entire value.
The recession only ended with dollarisation in February 2009.
While gold used to be the top foreign currency earner for Zimbabwe, the bullion might be dislodged from its pole position by diamonds, if not platinum group metals.
A cattle rancher and a businessman of note, Dube has been ZDI CEO for about two decades. He is director of several non-listed companies, a philanthropist and a senior Zanu-PF politician who is a member of politburo, the party's supreme decision-making body in-between congresses.
Born on July 3, 1941, Dube is a war veteran and a former member of the Zimbabwe National Army where he was a director of signals. He also worked in the Ministry of Defence as a deputy secretary and director of research and development before taking up his ZDI appointment.
He was a Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) board member for eight years and deputy board chairman of TelOne for seven years.
He holds an MSc in Electro-Tech from MADI Institute of Technology in Moscow and has once been an advisory board member to the secretary-general of the United Nations on Disarmament.
Dube is not new in mining though his past involvement in the sector was restricted to an advisory role.
Marange Resources is jointly owned by the ZMDC - the official holder of the Chiadzwa Marange diamond concession in conjunction with investors from China.
It is one of the few companies so far selected to develop the vast Marange diamond fields following the discovery of the gems about five years ago.
Obert Mpofu, the Mines and Mining Development Minister, estimates that Zimbabwe has potential to earn US$2 billion diamonds revenue annually. The figure, once realised would constitute a sizeable portion of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) currently under US$6 billion.
At one point, Zimbabwe's GDP was in excess of US$10 billion, but the figure came down crushing following a decade of a record-breaking recession that saw the local unit losing its entire value.
The recession only ended with dollarisation in February 2009.
While gold used to be the top foreign currency earner for Zimbabwe, the bullion might be dislodged from its pole position by diamonds, if not platinum group metals.
Source - fingaz
