Zambian Mining News The Premium Source of Information on The Zambian Mining Industry
Related Articles
Zambian government will preserve the mining sector’s stability and predictability, assuaging concerns over royalty increases, this is according to the newly appointed mines minister.
Paul Kabuswe also stated that the government must combat corruption in the mining sector, which is Zambia’s economic engine.
“We may not do everything in the coming budget but I can assure you that sanity will be brought back to the mining sector before 2026,” Kabuswe said.
Zambian bonds and the kwacha currency rallied after the election of businessman President Hichilema, who named Kabuswe mines minister last week.
“We have to make policies that will not disadvantage the investors. We have to have stability in the economy so that the investor is happy,” Kabuswe told a press briefing.
Africa’s second-largest copper producer, which defaulted on its sovereign debt last year, has benefited from an increase in copper prices to record highs.
Kabuswe said Hichilema would oversee Zambia’s policy on Mopani Copper Mines and Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), two critical operations his new administration must tackle.
Zambia took on $1.5-billion in debt to buy Mopani from Glencore in January and is yet to find a new investor for it.
The previous administration handed control of KCM to a provisional liquidator in May 2019, triggering an ongoing legal dispute with its former owner Vedanta.
