Essar plans to spend up to USD 4 billion in constructing a steel plant to process iron ore from Zimbabwe’s Mwanesi resource within the next five years. According to Welshman Ncube, the industry and commerce minister of Zimbabwe said that this would be the biggest single foreign investment into Zimbabwe’s economy. Upon completion, the plant would process 25 million tns of ore annually and create 500 jobs in a country with an unemployment rate of over 85%. In November the African unit of Essar Group agreed to buy 54% in the Zimbabwe Iron & Steel Company, with the government keeping 36% and 10% owned by minority investors.
