Small-scale gold miners in Zimbabwe are basically carrying the country's entire mineral output on their backs, but they're doing it with zero safety nets or insurance coverage. These guys pump out over 60 percent of the nation's gold, yet insurance companies won't touch them because most operations aren't fully formalized, and the risk levels are off the charts. Miners like Mthulisi Moyo and Ndabezinhle Ncube are begging the government and financial institutions to help them get coverage, since their families get left with nothing when someone dies underground.
The Insurance Brokers Association is trying to step in as middlemen, pushing for group schemes and mobile-payment options that could actually work with irregular mining income. They're talking about pay-as-you-dig models where miners chip in a percentage after each gold sale instead of dropping huge lump sums upfront.
Banks like NMB are still hesitant, though, saying they need to see proper formalization before they'll risk depositor funds on the sector. The whole situation is a catch-22 where miners can't get insurance without formalizing, but formalizing is nearly impossible without financial backing.
The Insurance Brokers Association is trying to step in as middlemen, pushing for group schemes and mobile-payment options that could actually work with irregular mining income. They're talking about pay-as-you-dig models where miners chip in a percentage after each gold sale instead of dropping huge lump sums upfront.
Banks like NMB are still hesitant, though, saying they need to see proper formalization before they'll risk depositor funds on the sector. The whole situation is a catch-22 where miners can't get insurance without formalizing, but formalizing is nearly impossible without financial backing.
