Zimbabwe’s mining policy impact on revenue leakages

One of the key objectives of the Zimbabwean government's "Vision 2030" is growing the mining industry to have a revenue of 12-billion USD annually. This vision is at risk due to the numerous mining revenue leakages the country experiences. In this study, the influence of revenue leakages on Zimbabwe's endeavour to change the mining sector to an industry that generates targeted revenues were investigated. This research established several reasons for the revenue leakages. These include mineral smuggling, superficial government disclosures, limited capacity of regulatory authorities to enforce compliance in mines and a lack of coordinated information dissemination in government institutions. It was also found that government departments have limited skills to evaluate mining data and lack verification and assaying processes. Furthermore, it was discovered that loopholes in taxation law, the inadequacy of weighbridges, and poor legislative oversight of parliament resolutions regarding revenue leakages are often not implemented. The study identifies critical gaps in Zimbabwe's mining sector contributing to revenue leakages. By analysing smuggling, limited government transparency, and weak enforcement capacities, the research sheds light on similar challenges faced by many African nations rich in mineral resources. The results presented in this study provide valuable insights into the various causes of revenue leakages which can be crucial in informing policy decisions and strategies to address the challenges faced by the mining sector. Furthermore, this work contributes to the development of best practices in mining revenue collections, and identifies policy improvement opportunities, benefiting policymakers and academics worldwide. The study provides several recommendations to achieve "Vision 2030".