Wait. I thought Zimbabwe wanted the west to leave it alone? Now this? $400 million USD!? Talk about a bunch of sellouts!

Is it a case that Anglo American KNOW that change in Zimbabwe is inevitable and that to be there BEFORE this happens will be in THEIR interest. Change will bring a stampede of such investors after the countrys minerals etc.

Surely though this would be perfect "political ammunition" for Mugabe as it's an obvious claim for him to make that the west is after Zim's minerals. So why would ZANU-PF allow this, and not only allow it but practically boast about it in the Herald? This is highly suspicious.

Mindpower, your point is well taken that Mugabe would make the point that the west is after Zimbabwean natural resources such as Platinum, which is used on advanced American Aircraft fighter jets!!!But the other point to make is, if not Anglo-American then who would take this opportunity for this "gold"? And the obvious answer is China! China is just around the corner to use this strategy mineral.

Many of you miss the point. The West does business with the worst regimes in the world. Such nations as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc do not even allow women to vote or even drive cars..Yes, these nations are worse than Zimbabwe...Yes, the western world deals with them because of oil. And I understand that.

The UK has not been responsible toward Zimbabwe, and that is why we have a "monister" Mugabe the last 10-15 years! Issues of land and farming in Zimbabwe have been distorted by the "Rhodesians" ,UK citizens and Robert Mugabe.

or it could all be a cooked up "conspiracy" by the evil west to "prove" to the world and the likes of kuba, phiri, djoser et al that there are NO Sanctions in zimbabwe.....I am sure one of these esteemed gentlemen will surface before long todayto point us to a herald story proving this investment is a cruel evil western inspired conspiracy to squash the "real truth" regarding the economic sanctions zimbabwe is currently in the grip of. Come on guys..we are waiting....dont keep us waiting too long now.

What's this? How can a British company be investing in Zimbabwe when there are illegal sanctions prohibiting such things? Oh that's right, the only thing prohibiting any western company from doing business with Zimbabwe is the fact that they might not get paid, or that their local operations might be taken away from them and given to one of Mugabe's colleagues. Still neither of those reasons should prevent western businesses from investing in Zimbabwe...