Zambia mines lobby calls on government to halt reforms

President Hakainde Hichilema’s government has demonstrated a “serial unwillingness” to consult “meaningfully” with the mining companies, the Chamber said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. The administration “risks undoing all the good work achieved” since coming to power in 2021 to attract investment to the southern African nation, which relies on copper for about 70% of export earnings, it said.

Hichilema has spent much of his term in office repairing ties with copper miners after the industry’s relations with his predecessor soured due to frequent shifts in policy.

Africa’s second-biggest copper producer is targeting output of 3 million tons by early next decade – a sharp hike from less than 700,000 tons last year. Such an increase will require investors to transform multiple exploration projects into operating mines.

The government recently announced plans to establish a state-owned firm to control at least 30% of future mines’ production of critical minerals including copper. It’s among initiatives that will “undoubtedly deter potential investors from exploring Zambia,” the Chamber said. The government is set upon taking the minimum stake “at no cost,” it added.

A proposed law to overhaul governance of the mining sector would grant “unaccountable and arbitrary discretionary decision-making powers to individual regulators, presenting obvious future corruption risks,” according to the Chamber.

Subsidiaries of FQM and Barrick were Zambia’s largest producers of copper last year, accounting for about two-thirds of output, according to government data. Units of Vedanta Resources Ltd. and Abu Dhabi’s International Resources Holding are also part of the mining chamber.

Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.

(By William Clowes)