Zambia needs partners, patience and greenfields exploration
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Zambia needs partners, patience and greenfields exploration
Zambia’s mining industry continues to attract attention from a global audience.
By Leon Louw founder of WhyAfrica and Endorphin Expeditions
Speakers at the 13th edition of the Zambia International Mining & Energy Conference (ZIMEC) hit all the right notes in the Copperbelt Province yesterday.
Hon. Paul Kabuswe, Zambia’s Minister of Mines and Minerals Development was upbeat: “Today Zambia is one of the friendliest mining jurisdictions in the world,” he told delegates in a pack conference centre at the Garden Court Hotel in Kitwe.
Albert Halwampa Director General at the Zambia Development Agency added that Zambia is looking for long-term partners.
“We can guarantee investors that their money will be safe,” he said during an excellent panel discussion moderated by Lili Nupen, Director and co-founder of NSDV.
“In Zambia no one will nationalise your assets and we allow 100% repatriation of your investment,” Halwampa told delegates in a pack conference hall.
Stability and certainty
Zambia’s mining industry has a chequered history, and the government has flirted with nationalisation on numerous occasions since independence in 1964.
But the last five years has brought good leadership, stability and regulatory certainty, which has boosted investor confidence at a time when copper prices have tested record highs.
“Kitwe was built on mining, and we need to replicate the success story elsewhere,” said Cornwell Muleya, CEO at the Investment Development Corporation of Zambia.
But Muleya emphasised that Zambia needs to build new mines and must undertake greenfields exploration to expand the industry.
Greenfields is critical
Later in the afternoon Zambian mining guru and exploration stalwart Sixtus Mulenja, founder and Executive Chairman of Musamo Resource, concurred that greenfields exploration is critical.
But he warned that moving a project from greenfields exploration to a producing mine is challenging and that funding is critical.
“What we need is patience, partnership and a long- term mindset,” he said.
Zambia needs patience and a long-term mindset