𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗧𝗧 𝗦𝗔𝗞𝗨𝗣𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗬𝗔 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗘𝗗 𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗡 𝗭𝗜𝗠𝗕𝗔𝗕𝗪𝗘, 𝗛𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗛𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗘𝗗.

Scott Sakupwanya Better Brands CEO and biggest gold trader with Rutendo Matinyarare.

Since 1980, Zimbabwe's gold was exported by Fidelity Refineries, a division of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. In the value chain, gold buyers purchased gold from miners on behalf of the Reserve Bank and then sold it onto Fidelity for a commission. This closed society of gold buyers was predominantly white, led by Ewan MacMillan and his father, for whom Scott Sakupwanya worked in the early 2000s.

By 2008, all Zimbabwean parastatals, including MMCZ (Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe) and Fidelity Refineries, were placed under U.S. executive sanctions, restricting their ability to sell resources on the global market and receive U.S. dollar payments and clearances. That year, gold buyers like MacMillan delivered only four tons of gold to Fidelity Printers, resulting in Zimbabwe losing its LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) certification, as countries are required to supply 10 tons to maintain certification.

With the government suspecting that white gold buyers were smuggling gold due to Fidelity's blocked access to U.S. dollar payments under sanctions, Scott Sakupwanya approached Gono, proposing that he could ensure Zimbabwe obtained over 10 tons of gold to regain LBMA status. Gono granted Scott the first gold buyer's license given to a black buyer after Roger Boka, the first black man to hold a gold trading license, had passed on.

The following year, Zimbabwe surpassed 10 tons of gold per year, and by 2019, Scott had become Zimbabwe's biggest gold dealer and trader, delivering over 17 tons of gold to Fidelity annually. This led to a 4000% increase in Zimbabwe's gold production since 2009, surpassing the all-time gold production record with a record-breaking 36 tons in 2023 and over 37 tons in 2025.

Notably, during this period, Kuvimba, an entity then owned by the government and Kuda Tagwirei (now owned by the Mutapa Investment Fund), also became the biggest formal gold producer, contributing to record gold deliveries to the Reserve Bank.

Today, Scott and Kuda Tagwirei face criticism from Western media and even individuals like Blessed Geza, due to their disruption of the dominance of legacy white families like the MacMillans in Africa's gold industry.

Some suspect that critics like Geza are sponsored by Western gold and commodity traders who want to vilify Scott and other black Zimbabwean businesspeople to get them sanctioned -as happened to Tagwirei- so that British companies can reassume control over the economy.