HH address to African Mining Indaba (Part I)
ANALYSIS BY HAKAINDE HICHILEMA
IT IS my honour and privilege to be part of this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba.
This year’s theme, “African mining: Investing in the energy transition, environmental, social and governance and economies”, could not have come at a more opportune time.
The energy transition and unprecedented technological advancements are anchored by mineral resources, among others.
Your excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, as we all know, the mining sector remains critical to the sustainable development of the African continent.
Our continent is blessed with vast mineral resources that are key drivers of the development agenda of most of our countries.
As such, this calls for deliberate efforts on the part of African leaders and their partners to ensure sustainable development and management of mineral resources.
These efforts include building down-stream linkages aimed at promoting value addition and manufacturing, as well as up-stream linkages into mining capital goods, consumables and services industries.
The development of supporting infrastructure including:
- Power,
- Logistics and transport,
- Communications,
- Significant investment in research, technology and development, among others, also remains critical.
Our continent is endowed with vast mineral resources that largely remain undiscovered and unexploited.
We also have immense potential in the artisanal and small-scale sub-sector.
Aggressive investment into exploration will unlock the undiscovered mineral resources and create enormous socio-economic impact that will not only lift many of our people out of poverty but create new wealth and prosperity.
We have an opportunity to actualise “Agenda 2063: The Africa we want”, which is anchored on harnessing the continent’s endowments embodied in people and natural resources.
We are, however, cognisant of the threats that stand in the way of us actualising our aspirations.
Civil strife, conflict and instability have characterised a number of mineral-rich areas of our continent.
We must endeavour to foster peace and stability across the continent because conflict impedes investment and the prospect of social and economic growth that we all desire.
I, therefore, wish to underscore Zambia’s support to all efforts aimed at resolving the ongoing conflicts on our continent.
We often stress the point that instability anywhere is a threat to stability everywhere.
Your excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to share with you our vision of “a new dawn for Zambia’s mining sector”.
Since coming into office in August 2021, our government has been determined and focused on efforts to revive the Zambian economy.
Our economy is anchored by the mining sector, which, historically, has been a major contributor to our development.
We undoubtedly believe in its potential to be an even greater contributor to our economy as we welcome active and pragmatic collaboration with mining industry players.
We are committed to building a resilient and sustainable mining industry anchored on environmental, social and governance standards and best practice.
Our determination towards industrialisation, job creation and an increased fiscal envelope, sees the mining industry as a core factor to achieving these objectives.
This, indeed, is why we are here.
We are open for business and we are open to engage and partner with you.
As many of you are aware, Zambia is a key player in the global copper mining industry and is home to vast reserves of copper and cobalt.
We are addressing factors that constrain investment and putting in place factors that catalyse it.
Our investment environment will undoubtedly be:
- Transparent,
- Consistent,
- Predictable,
- Fair,
- Intolerant of corruption.
Momentum is building towards increased mineral production as new mining operations are being established and existing mines are expanding and ramping up production.
We are building strategic partnerships that will help position Zambia for future prosperity.
Just last month, we signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to facilitate the development of value chains in the electric battery and clean energy sector.
Together we will change the narrative that Africa is only a source of raw materials and establish our nations as leading players in the era of electric vehicles and other green innovations.
Your excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, copper is critical in the green energy transition and there is an ever-increasing demand for it.
Continued tomorrow
The author is President of Zambia.