South African billionaire Elon Musk has reportedly signed a contract to buy graphite from Balama, in the province of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique. He intends to use the ore to produce batteries for Tesla's electric cars. But he's not stopping there and is entering into high-level talks with Zimbabwe to acquire another mineral component for his productions.

A Zimbabwean source says that Elon Musk has shown interest in the local lithium industry and is already in talks with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The country's leader is said to have accepted Musk's proposals in the hope that they would represent a national gain.

"He made proposals to our President and our President sent him the message that if he wants to come and invest in Zimbabwe, the investment season is open," said ZANU PF party spokesman Christopher Mutsvangwa.

Musk's interest has been interpreted as the culmination of Mnangagwa's strategy of rapprochement with the international community, after several years of isolation.

With Zimbabwe identifying more and more new deposits of the "new white gold", interest in its mining ventures has been widespread, with particular interest from China, which is home to major companies in the manufacture of lithium batteries.

A Chinese billionaire, whose name has not been revealed, is already interested in the Zulu lithium mine, located about 80 km from Bulawayo, a Zimbabwean town with provincial status.

With Zimbabwe having the largest number of projects in the exploration phase, experts estimate that the country could meet 20% of the world's demand for lithium.