The Mutapa Investment Fund is advancing plans to revive the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO), despite the steelmaker having seven years of outstanding financial statements, as the state investment fund develops a new model for the company.
According to the Auditor-General, ZISCO had not submitted financial statements for 2019 to 2025 as at June 24, 2026, while accounts for 2021 to 2025 remained outstanding for audit.
ZISCO was transferred into the Mutapa Investment Fund portfolio on March 20, 2026, under Statutory Instrument 58 of 2026.Mutapa is seeking to restructure the steelmaker around other state-owned companies, with the model designed to improve access to key industrial inputs and infrastructure.
“The proposed model relies on integration with state companies, including Hwange for coal, NRZ for transport, Sable for inputs and ZESA for power,” Mutapa Investment Fund said.
The fund has also ruled out simply restarting the existing ZISCO plant, arguing that the old production platform is no longer commercially viable.
“The current ZISCO plant is not viable and any restart would require a new production platform anchored on available resources,” Mutapa said.
The approach means the revival will involve a new investment model rather than simply bringing the old facilities back into operation.
Mutapa’s strategy places emphasis on using Zimbabwe’s existing resources and state-owned infrastructure to support the new operation.
“The new ZISCO model has to be based on the resources available in Zimbabwe and the integration of state-owned companies that can support the steelmaking operation,” Mutapa said.
However, the investment fund is developing the revival while ZISCO’s recent financial record remains incomplete.The Auditor-General reported that the company had seven years of outstanding financial statements, creating a significant gap in its financial record.
“The outstanding financial statements remain an important issue as the new investment model is developed, because the financial position of the company has to be established,” Mutapa said.
The missing accounts cover the period from 2019 through 2025, leaving the fund to assess the company’s assets, liabilities and historical performance while the revival plans are being developed.
Mutapa’s approach will therefore require a clearer assessment of the existing assets and liabilities before major investment commitments are made.
“The revival requires a new production platform, and the investment case must be built around the resources, infrastructure and commercial opportunities available to ZISCO,” Mutapa said.
The fund’s control of ZISCO comes as it seeks to reposition state-owned assets under commercially driven investment models.For ZISCO, the immediate task is to complete the financial reconstruction while developing the new industrial model proposed by Mutapa.
The success of the revival will ultimately depend on whether the fund can translate its proposed integration of coal, transport, power and industrial inputs into a financially sustainable steelmaking operation.
