News

ZAMBIA TO BOOST COPPER OUTPUT

as commodity prices rise

THE mining industry in Zambia will ride on the recent rise in commodity demand to
produce more copper and ensure a win-win situation with Government.
The largest global commodity trader Trafigura sees copper rallying aggressively to highs of US$15,000 a tonne as global decarbonisation efforts fuel global deficits.
This development provides an opportunity for both local and foreign investors to build
production lines which will serve the mining industry, says Zambia Chamber of Mines (ZCM).
ZCM president,Dr Godwin Beene, said the Chamber would continue engaging stakeholders
to make the industry competitive again.
This, Dr Beene said, would be done by attracting new investors and motivate continued investment by the existing ones
who had boldly weathered world economic storms and stayed in the industry since 2000.
“We deem the coming years to be exciting for our sector. The mining industry remains the major influencer of the temperature of Zambia’s economy.
“Demand is outstripping supply which is a good thing. We need to produce more to meet the demand. Big changes are coming up in the production industry,” he said yesterday in
Lusaka during a press briefing on the Zambian mining sector-the next 10 years.
Dr Beene said in the wake of a growing demand for metal, investors were seeing
opportunities to invest if the host countries permitted it.He stressed that this was time for host countries such as Zambia
to grant that permit and enable the much needed foreign direct investment inflows to assist in growing the economy.
Dr Beene encouraged the local investors to take advantage of the booming copper demand
by investing in the industry.”We are confident that the Zambian public will understand the mining sector better and give
it some positive image,” he said.
Dr Beene said ZCM would continue to play its role to the Ministry of Mines to attract
and keep the investors by pointing out to Government and stakeholders the impediments
to investment and growth in the sector.
He said the Chamber would alert the Ministry of the emerging opportunities and trends in the industry and foster transparency.
Dr Beene observed the need to address the impediments to investment inflows and production growth.
He also observed the need to address bad public perception of the industry saying: “since the year 2000 when Zambia’s investment policy changed, the new mining sector has been battling a bad press leading
to Government putting various
measures in place.”

By Buumba Chimbulu,Daily Nation.

If you enjoyed this article, Get email updates (It’s Free)

Show More

Related Articles

Back to top button