By 
Zimbabwe’s new $1.5 billion steel plant, backed by Chinese investor Tsingshan Holding Group, has begun production despite disputes with local villagers.
The plant, expected to create 10,000 jobs and contribute $5 billion to the economy, has been accused of seizing land without compensation, damaging the environment, displacing over 100 families and exacerbating food insecurity.
Villagers demand fair treatment, relocation assistance, and environmental protection. The company, Dinson Iron and Steel Company (DISCO), denies wrongdoing, citing investments in sewage ponds and chimneys.
Dindon Group project director Wilfred Motsi highlited that, ” We are going back to our glory days when Zimbabwe was known as one of the industrial hubd in the Southern Africa because of the steel industry”.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Mines, Winston Chitando, praises the project’s economic potential growth impactviting that the still industry could contribute approximately $5 billion to the national economy.
The controversy surrounding the steel plant highlights tensions between economic development and social-environmental concerns in Zimbabwe.
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