Industrialisation and toolmaking in Zimbabwe: Building the foundry backbone of a modern economy
By Eng. Paul Matshona and Eng. Martin January
Few nations have ever industrialised without mastering the art of making their own tools.
This truth is etched deeply into Zimbabwe’s own history, long before the advent of modern industry. From the sophisticated bloomery furnaces of Great Zimbabwe and the Mutapa Empire, which produced not just iron but high-carbon steel for tools, weapons, and currency, to the vibrant foundries of the 1980s, this land has a millennia-old legacy of metallurgical innovation.
That legacy transformed raw ore into the instruments of agriculture, trade, and statecraft powering precolonial economies and commanding respect in regional trade networks.
Today, Zimbabwe stands at a similar crossroads, armed with the same rich mineral resources and a resurgent steel industry, facing the urgent need to translate raw capacity into industrial might. The ability to melt, shape, and repurpose steel into the machinery that powers agriculture, mining, transport, and construction has always separated consumers of technology from its creators.
As our previous article, “From Furnace to Fabrication: Human Capital, Downstream Industrialisation, and Zimbabwe’s Steel Renaissance,” outlined, the foundations of a steel revival are being laid. However, industrialisation does not culminate at the smelter.
True economic transformation begins beyond the furnace when molten metal is shaped into the machines, tools, and components that sustain other industries. T
oolmaking, underpinned by a dynamic and well-resourced foundry sector, forms the critical bridge between metallurgy and manufacturing. It is this bridge that will determine whether Zimbabwe reverts to being a mere exporter of raw materials a fate its ancestors once transcended or advances into a fully integrated and self-sustaining industrial economy, reclaiming the strategic mastery over metal that once defined its greatness. This article explores how to build that bridge turning historical potential into modern progress.
Why Tool-Making Matters: The Unbroken Thread of Sovereignty
Toolmaking is the invisible architecture of every industrial system a truth linking the iron forges of Great Zimbabwe to today’s foundries. In early societies, mastery of metal defined sovereignty: hoes enabled food security, weapons ensured defence, and forged bars powered trade.
That legacy now anchors Zimbabwe’s reindustrialisation. Every productive sector mining, agriculture, construction, and transport depends on tools. Yet the nation still imports over US$3 billion in engineering spares each year, while local foundries operate at only 30 percent capacity, contributing far below their potential US$1.5 billion to GDP.
Revitalising the Zimbabwe Institute of Foundries (ZIF) and retooling its 60 facilities with modern furnaces, spectrometers, and CNC systems could save up to US$4 billion annually. Reclaiming toolmaking is therefore more than industrial policy, it is technological sovereignty, transforming Zimbabwe’s metallurgical heritage into a resilient, self-sustaining, and globally competitive economy.
The Foundry Sector as the Industrial Base
The foundry sector is the unsung foundation of any manufacturing ecosystem. Every engineering process begins with a casting, and every casting begins in a foundry. Globally, foundries produce over 110 million tonnes of metal castings annually, feeding nearly 90 percent of manufactured products from automotive engines to valve systems and electric-motor housings.
In Zimbabwe, the metal-casting sector contributes an estimated US$1.5 billion, nearly 9 percent of GDP, despite operating far below potential. During the 1980s, the country hosted more than fifteen large foundries; sanctions-era import substitution drove local innovation. Today, the challenge is the inverse: a liberalised market flooded with imports has suffocated domestic capacity. Reviving foundries means reclaiming industrial sovereignty.
The Ease of Toolmaking: Turning Metal into Machinery
Zimbabwe’s comparative advantage lies in its abundance of inputs- iron ore, chrome, nickel, limestone, coal, and electricity infrastructure. With Dinson Iron and Steel Company’s (DISCO) new steel complex in Mvuma and the existing operations in Redcliff, Kwekwe, and Bulawayo, the feedstock for casting and machining is locally available.
Toolmaking becomes “easy” when three conditions align: material supply, technical skills, and design capability. All three are achievable through deliberate coordination. Using modern induction-furnace technology, CNC machining, local foundries can fabricate everything from grinding media for mines to precision components for transport and agriculture. What Zimbabwe lacks is not ingenuity but modern equipment and financing. Retooling existing foundries with new melting furnaces, spectrometers, and heat-treatment facilities would cost roughly US$12 million a modest investment compared to the US$3 billion the country currently spends annually importing mining spares.
Retooling and Working Capital: The Missing Link
The retooling imperative sits at the heart of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), which emphasises beneficiation and value addition.
Yet most foundries are still operating with equipment from the 1950s. Productivity, energy efficiency, and quality are compromised. In normal industrial economies, banks provide tooling loans and working-capital facilities. In Zimbabwe, this financing ecosystem is weak.
The ZIF has proposed a US$3 million working-capital fund to bridge this gap, allowing foundries to purchase scrap metal, ferro-alloys, and furnace linings without relying on the parallel market. This also calls for approximately 100 million for retooling. Establishing a revolving retooling fund, perhaps through the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) or the Sovereign Wealth Fund, could catalyse local production at scale.
Policy and Institutional Support
A deliberate industrial policy must accompany capital injection. Public procurement laws should require that at least 30 percent of metal components in state infrastructure and mining projects come from local foundries. This mirrors South Africa’s localisation framework, which guarantees markets for domestic manufacturers. Duty-free importation of foundry machinery, tax credits for retooling, and rebates for scrap-metal recycling would improve competitiveness. India’s 2014 “Make in India” programme offers a replicable model linking fiscal support with export-performance targets.
Zimbabwe can draw from the Indian Institute of Foundries and China’s industrial-cluster model to establish Foundry Technology Centres in Gweru and Bulawayo, anchored within innovation hubs at universities and the Zimbabwe School of Mines. These centres would handle metallurgical testing, simulation, and rapid prototyping.
ZIF, in partnership with ZIMDEF and higher-education institutions, should standardise apprenticeship training. The new Diploma in Foundry Technology and Diploma in Iron and Steelmaking from Zimbabwe School of Mines are milestones that must feed directly into industry placements and certification under the Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ). This skilled workforce would be the required life blood of the metallurgical industrial parks. Establishing metallurgical industrial parks adjacent to steelworks similar to China’s Tangshan model would create economies of scale. Each cluster could host foundries, machine shops, fabrication yards, and research units sharing utilities and waste-recycling systems.
Institutional Expectations
The Zimbabwe Institute of Foundries is not merely an association; it is the national anchor for metal beneficiation. Its strategic mandate should expand beyond advocacy to include: (1) Coordination of Research & Development, ensuring foundries adopt new processes like lost-foam casting and additive manufacturing; (2) Quality-Assurance Services, offering chemical-composition certification through spectrometry laboratories, enabling products to meet ISO and SABS standards; (3) Cluster Management, facilitating collective procurement of raw materials, shared logistics, and export consortia;(4) Policy Advisory, interfacing with government ministries to influence trade, energy, and mining policies; and (5) Environmental Compliance, guiding members on waste handling, emissions control, and cleaner-production technologies. Through such functions, ZIF can evolve into a semi-public industrial-development agency, like India’s National Foundry Development Council.
The Foundry Ecosystem: What Will Be Replaced
A revitalised foundry sector would systematically replace a wide array of imported components. Mining firms currently import crushers, ball-mill liners, hammer-mill beaters, and valves all of which can be locally cast and machined. In agriculture, plough discs, water pumps, and gate valves could be produced domestically. Construction would benefit from local fabrication of manhole covers, channel iron, and reinforcement bars. If each foundry operated at 80 percent capacity, import substitution could save Zimbabwe more than US$4 billion annually across mining, agriculture, and energy sectors. The ripple effects lower foreign-currency demand, stable exchange rates, and employment expansion would be profound.
Challenges within the Foundry Industry
Despite clear opportunities, structural barriers persist. Aging Equipment and Low Productivity; Foreign-Currency Constraints; High Energy Costs; Skills Gap; Environmental Compliance. Nearly all foundry consumables ferro-alloys, graphite, mould coatings, and abrasives are priced in USD.
Yet many local clients pay in RTGS, creating a currency-mismatch crisis. Electricity tariffs for industrial users remain high relative to regional peers. Since melting accounts for up to 40 percent of foundry operating costs, energy pricing determines competitiveness. The out-migration of artisans during the 2000s hollowed out technical expertise.
Although apprenticeship programmes have resumed, the gap in metallurgical, mechanical, and CAD skills remains wide. Many foundries struggle to meet emission and waste-handling standards. Without cleaner technologies such as dust-collection systems and efficient furnaces, the industry risks regulatory penalties and community resistance.
Addressing these bottlenecks requires not piecemeal interventions but a coordinated Industrialisation and Tool-Making Strategy under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, integrated with mining and education ministries.
Creating Value: From Beneficiation to Industrialisation
Value addition is often discussed at the mineral-processing stage, yet real economic multipliers occur further downstream. When a tonne of steel is converted into valves, pumps, or machinery, its value increases ten-fold. Moreover, every foundry job sustains up to five indirect jobs in transport, machining, and maintenance. With 10 000 direct employees currently, full retooling could push foundry-related employment beyond 30 000, alongside thousands more in ancillary services. In essence, a thriving foundry sector transforms mining from an extractive pursuit into an industrial-development engine.
Regional and Global Lessons
China and India exemplify how targeted support for foundries accelerates industrialisation. China’s state-backed Tool-and-Die Programme built capacity for domestic machinery production, while India’s Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) provided soft loans to modernise foundries and machine shops.
Both countries recognised that a nation cannot industrialise on imported tools. For Zimbabwe, policy alignment under Vision 2030 should emulate this logic: treat toolmaking as a strategic sector equivalent to energy or agriculture, deserving tax incentives, research funding, and export-promotion schemes.
The Strategic Role of Education and Research
Human capital is the linchpin. The partnership between ZIF and the Zimbabwe School of Mines to launch Foundry Technology programmes is a major milestone. Integrating universities, polytechnics, and industrial training centres will ensure a steady pipeline of metallurgists, patternmakers, and machinists.
Moreover, collaboration with innovation hubs such as those at Midlands State University and the National University of Science and Technology can spearhead applied research on alloy development, energy-efficient melting, and digital simulation. This will place Zimbabwean foundries at the forefront of Industry 4.0, where casting meets computation.
Conclusion: Casting the Future
Zimbabwe’s journey from furnace to fabrication is both practical and philosophical. It symbolises a shift from exporting potential to engineering progress. The foundry sector if retooled, financed, and institutionally supported can anchor a new phase of industrialisation rooted in self-reliance, innovation, and inclusive growth.
The tools that build a nation are themselves built in foundries. Every bolt, sprocket, valve, and plough share poured in Bulawayo, Gweru, or Harare is a testament to Zimbabwe’s capacity to manufacture its own future. Industrialisation will not arrive through imports; it will be forged literally and figuratively in the heat of Zimbabwe’s furnaces.
Paul Matshona is a Mining Engineer and Researcher at the Zimbabwe School of Mines, specialising in sustainable mining systems, environmental governance, ESG, responsible mining, and de-risking strategies for small and medium-scale mining operations.
Martin January is a Financial and Mining Engineer, and Training & Operations Manager at the Zimbabwe School of Mines, focusing on financial modelling, operational efficiency, technical and financial valuation, and capacity-building in the mining sector.
