reality or fantasy?

Is Zambia’s drive for 3m tonnes of copper a year by 2031 a shiny dream?

By Ray Mwareya

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Posted on January 19, 2023 12:03

 © Copper plates on a truck to South Africa Zambia.
Biosphoto / David Pyke / Green Eye
Copper plates on a truck to South Africa Zambia. Biosphoto / David Pyke / Green Eye

Zambia’s drive to triple its copper production to nearly 3m tonnes a year by 2031 is doable, thanks to a fresh positive outlook the country has taken under President Hakainde Hichilema’s government, says the Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC). The firm is the best performer of the local stocks exchange and one of Africa’s private electricity supplier success stories.

There is an “improvement in the business environment”, says Chama Nsabika, CEC’s investor relations manager. He argues that opportunities in Zambia’s mining sector are perking up, underpinned by Hichilema’s new policy direction and a national target of 2.72m tonnes of copper production in a decade from now.

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