Zimbabwe is set to launch Africa’s first lithium sulphate plant in early 2026, developed in collaboration with Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe (PLZ), a subsidiary of China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt. The US$400 million facility at the Arcadia mine near Harare marks a decisive break from the raw-export model that has defined much of Africa’s mineral economy for decades.
The nation of Zimbabwe is attempting something far more ambitious: inserting itself into the industrial middle of the global battery supply chain, where value, technology, and long-term leverage actually sit. It also signals a broader shift in Zimbabwe’s economic strategy: from survival mining toward resource-driven industrialisation.
READ ALSO: Zimbabwe’s Lithium Sector and the Strategic Significance of Kuvimba’s Sandawana Project
Zimbabwe’s economy is showing signs of a notable rebound, with nominal GDP projected at around US$53.3 billion for 2025 and growth expected to reach between 6.0 and 6.6%. This recovery is being driven primarily by a strong performance in the mining sector, an agricultural rebound, and sustained activity in the services industry.
Mining remains central, contributing around 15% of GDP and a far larger share of export earnings. Within mining, lithium has rapidly become the fastest-growing strategic mineral, even as global prices have fallen sharply.
This timing matters. Zimbabwe is scaling up lithium production precisely when the world is restructuring energy systems around electric vehicles (EVs), grid storage, and renewables sectors that will require lithium for decades, not years.
Zimbabwe possesses the largest lithium reserves in Africa and ranks as the fifth-largest globally, positioning the country as a major player in the lithium market. Having already become Africa’s top producer of the mineral in 2024, its output is projected to grow significantly, with forecasts aiming for 160,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) by 2030, a target that places it far ahead of its regional competitors.
Recent production and export trends in Zimbabwe’s lithium sector show a dramatic volume boom, with exports reaching approximately 400,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate in 2024. This growth accelerated sharply in 2025, with 586,197 tonnes shipped in the first half alone, a 30% year-on-year increase and total shipments hitting roughly 1 million tonnes by the end of September.
However, this surge in volume has been completely undercut by a devastating price collapse. From a peak of over US$80,000 per tonne in 2022, prices plummeted to around US$8,450 per tonne in June 2025, marking a 90% decline. The result is a paradox of rising export volumes coupled with falling total revenues, creating an urgent economic imperative for Zimbabwe to move beyond the export of raw materials and develop domestic value-added processing.
The Arcadia lithium sulphate plant marks a significant strategic leap into the midstream segment of the battery minerals value chain, moving far beyond simple mining and export. With an investment of approximately US$400 million, this facility will have the capacity to produce 50,000 to over 60,000 tonnes of lithium sulphate annually, a critical intermediate chemical used to manufacture battery-grade lithium hydroxide and carbonate, with operations set to commence in the first quarter of 2026.
By transforming spodumene concentrate into a higher-value chemical product, this project moves Zimbabwe off the lowest and most volatile rung of the raw materials export ladder for the first time. Its establishment signifies a pivotal industrial shift, introducing large-scale chemical processing within the country’s borders and capturing greater value from its vast lithium resources.
Historically, Zimbabwe exported raw lithium ore, capturing only a tiny fraction of its final value. The new domestic processing of lithium sulphate fundamentally changes this economic model. It significantly increases export value retention, deepens foreign currency earnings, builds local industrial and chemical expertise, and reduces revenue volatility compared to raw exports. Projections suggest revenues could more than double once production stabilises, even with low global prices. This shift is crucial for a country familiar with commodity cycles, where volume growth rarely translates into lasting prosperity.
A major hurdle for the Zimbabwean industry has been chronic power shortages. In response, projects like the Arcadia plant are developing dedicated infrastructure, such as a 70 MW solar plant to power operations. This reflects a broader trend of Chinese-backed projects creating self-contained infrastructure. While this reduces immediate strain on the national grid, it raises long-term questions about integration with the wider economy. Nonetheless, lithium beneficiation is directly spurring infrastructure investments that would otherwise not happen.
Zimbabwe’s lithium surge is deeply intertwined with its decades-long relationship with China, which has evolved from political support to a strategic minerals partnership. Following Zimbabwe’s “Look East” policy, Chinese firms now dominate the lithium sector, with companies like Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine, and Chengxin Lithium investing approximately US$1.4 billion since 2021. This has rapidly transformed the industry from simple extraction to integrated processing.
This move follows earlier, though fragmented, Chinese-led value-addition attempts in sectors like diamonds and steel. The critical difference now is a coherent government policy mandating beneficiation, including a planned ban on raw lithium exports by 2027. This provides a unified push, aligning major projects like Bikita Minerals and Sabi Star toward processing and creating a consistent industrial direction.
Zimbabwe now holds a unique position in Africa as the continent’s most advanced lithium processor, having moved into the midstream with sulphate production. While it still trails global leaders like Chile in full battery-grade chemical refining, it has leapfrogged regional peers like Namibia (focused on raw concentrate) and the DRC (which has downstream aspirations but limited lithium output), establishing itself as a regional leader in value addition.
Significant hurdles remain, including volatile lithium prices, environmental management of water and waste, labour disputes, and the need for consistent, credible policy enforcement. However, by hosting Africa’s first major lithium sulphate plant, Zimbabwe is shifting from a mere resource supplier to an industrial node in global EV supply chains. This strengthens its economic sovereignty and Vision 2030 goals, positioning it as a strategic materials economy in the clean-energy era and setting a continental benchmark for resource beneficiation.
