ECOBANK Zimbabwe Limited (EZL) has said it plans to expand financing for the domestic lithium-mining sector, as the lender seeks to bolster its role in the battery minerals value chain, having already provided $369mn to mining operators and related businesses between 2021 and 2025.

Zimbabwe holds one of the world's largest hard-rock lithium resources, making it an increasingly important supplier to China's electric vehicle battery industry. The government has increasingly required investors to process more lithium domestically to capture greater value.

EZL, the Zimbabwean subsidiary of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (NGX: ETI; BRVM: ETIT; GSE: EGH), said that while the country is well positioned to benefit from the global energy transition, further investment in infrastructure, power supply and logistics is needed to maximise value from the sector.

"It needs capital. It needs infrastructure. It needs energy reliability. It needs trade connections," the bank said, as quoted by This Day. "With significant lithium resources and growing global demand, our nation has the opportunity to move beyond extraction towards value addition, beneficiation and long-term industrial growth."

EZL is among the few Zimbabwean lenders to generate more than $100mn in revenue during 2025, supported by strong growth in lending, transaction banking and trade finance. The lender said it remains committed to supporting Zimbabwe's mining industry through structured commodity trade finance, working capital facilities and digital payment systems designed to facilitate mining exports and cross-border trade.

According to the lender's audited results for the year ended December 31, 2025, core capital reached $129.1mn and total assets rose 41.1% to ZiG25.29bn ($973.4mn), strengthening the bank's capacity to finance large-scale mining, processing and beneficiation projects.

Zimbabwe has emerged as one of Africa's leading hard-rock lithium producers following substantial investment by Chinese mining groups, including Sinomine Resource Group (SZSE: 002738), Chengxin Lithium Group (SZSE: 002240), Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt (SHA: 603799) and Canmax Technologies (SZSE: 300390), which have acquired and developed several of the country's largest lithium assets.

Most investment to date has focused on spodumene concentrate production, although the government is encouraging downstream investment in lithium processing and other battery materials as part of its mineral beneficiation strategy.

Mining remains Zimbabwe's largest export sector, generating the bulk of the country's foreign currency earnings from commodities including gold, platinum group metals, chrome, diamonds and lithium. As investment in critical minerals accelerates, banks are expanding trade finance, project finance and working capital facilities to support mine development, mineral processing and export activities.

Africa is emerging as a major source of lithium for the global energy transition, with significant hard-rock deposits in Zimbabwe, Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mali and Ghana.

While South America's "Lithium Triangle" of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile holds the world's largest brine resources and Australia remains the leading producer of hard-rock lithium, Africa has attracted billions of dollars of investment in recent years as battery manufacturers seek to diversify supply chains and secure long-term supplies of the critical mineral.