Mines ministry gets new permanent secretary

The Herald
Farirai Machivenyika-Senior Reporter 
President Mnangagwa has appointed Mr Pfungwa Kunaka as the new Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development with effect from August 22.
He takes over from Mr Onesimo Mazai Moyo who left the post on July 31 following his retirement.
Before the latest appointment, Mr Kunaka, who is an economist by training, was with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development as the chief director responsible for expenditure management.
In a statement yesterday, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda said the President had appointed Mr Kunaka in terms of Section 205(1) of the Constitution.
Mr Kunaka holds a Bsc Degree in Economics and has served Government in various positions in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development as an economist, chief economist revenue expenditure; director National budgeting; chief director resource mobilisation; chief director fiscal policy and advisory services and his recent post as chief director, expenditure management which he held since 2007. 
“This experience exposed Mr Kunaka to the planning, evaluation and financing of a wide range of investment projects and programmes by all government ministries, including in the mining sector,” said Dr Sibanda. 
Dr Sibanda
“In addition, Mr Kunaka engaged with several development partners at bilateral and multilateral levels, and with international financial institutions to hammer out projects, programmes and investment deals on behalf of the country. 
“Under the Second Republic, Mr Kunaka was seconded to the One Stop Shop Investment under the Office of President and Cabinet to establish the formative infrastructure to operationalise the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA).” 
Mr Kunaka sits on the boards of various investment and financial institutions in Zimbabwe.
Dr Sibanda said Mr Kunaka thus brings vast knowledge and experience in public administration and management across all sectors of government, and a deep understanding of the sectors of the economy in relation to their contribution to inclusive and sustainable national development. 
“He is a strategic thinker with a sharp eye for financial analysis and management, evaluation of investments, and negotiation of agreements to best advantage of the country,” he said. “The deployment of Mr Kunaka to the mining sector will, therefore, bring the requisite stability and sustain inclusive growth in the industry in its quest to meet its strategic targets under the ongoing national development programmes in consonance with the realisation of Vision 2030.” 
The appointment of Mr Kunaka comes as the mining industry is pushing hard to reach the target of US$12 billion by next year, a goal that remains certain, judging by the continued momentum across key sub-sectors, and the newly commissioned signature projects covering different mineral segments.
President Mnangagwa revealed while officially opening the 25th edition of the Mining, Engineering and Transport (Mine Entra) Conference in Bulawayo last month that the country’s mining sector was registering unprecedented growth for the first time in history.
Earnings in the sector jumped to US$5,2 billion in 2021 from about US$2,9 billion in 2017, as positive gains continued to be realised from the Government’s economic reform agenda. Official statistics already indicate that the mining sector is poised to clock US$8 billion in earnings this year, having already surpassed US$6 billion in June.
Some of the anchor projects in the mining sector include the expansion of Zimplats and Unki platinum mines, the re-opening of Eureka Gold Mine, Shamva Gold Mine, Rio-Zim Cam and Motor Biox Gold Plant Expansion Project, Radnor Mine, and most recently, the Sinomine Bikita Minerals Lithium project and the Arcadia Lithium Mine.
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