WhyAfrica at Chisokone market in Kitwe Zambia

WhyAfrica at Chisokone market in Kitwe Zambia

WhyAfrica headed to the bustling Chisokone market in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia.

By Leon Louw founder of WhyAfrica and Endorphin Expeditions.   

We stopped talking about mining and exploration in Zambia, project management, investing in Africa, African politics, mining regulations and diesel shortages for a moment yesterday.

It was not because we wanted to, but because it was difficult to hear each other talk above the noise at the Chisokone market in Kitwe.

Like at the Zambia International Mining and Energy Conference (ZIMEC) that happened earlier this week at the Garden Court Hotel, deals were being made at Chisokone, albeit on a different scale.

Kitwe’s commercial heart

Chisokone has been Kitwe’s commercial heart since the early days of copper mining in the 1930s and 1940s.

As mining expanded, workers from across Zambia and neighbouring countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, and Tanzania settled in Kitwe, shaping Chisokone’s diverse character.

Anything you can think of is sold at Chisokone: fresh vegetables and peanuts, live chickens, mealie meal, dried fish, second-hand clothing, household goods and mobile accessories.

There we also a few very interesting rock specimens from the Copperbelt and the DRC on display, which reminded me of the incredible geological potential in this part of the world.

WhyAfrica and Endorphin Expeditions in Kitwe, Zambia

During WhyAfrica and Endorphin Expeditions’ trips through Africa we don’t always talk business, we have some fun as well.

Most of all, we experience the real Africa.

Methemben Moyo from NSDV and Marilze De Jong from Project Link joined me on the ground for the first in a series of WhyAfrica Business Trips through Africa operated by WhyAfrica’s sister company, tour operator Endorphin Expeditions.

Image: Leon Louw founder of WhyAfrica and Endorphin Expeditions at the Chisokone market in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. Image credit: WhyAfrica

WhyAfrica at Chisokone market in Kitwe Zambia