Veep opens Mining, Energy Conference

LVice President George Kunda has urged investors in the mining industry to shift their focus from copper mining to other equally profitable minerals.

Mr. Kunda said Zambia has abundant mineral resources such as iron ore, uranium, and gemstone among others which investors should exploit.

The Vice President said this in Lusaka today when he officially opened the first ever Zambia International Mining and Energy Conference held under the theme “Developing a Self Sustaining Zambian Extractive Industry Driven by Private Public Sector Partnerships”.

He said the theme for the conference was appropriate as it echoed Government’s policy of facilitating the development of a private sector driven mining industry.

ZANIS reports that Mr Kunda said Government had created a favourable investment climate in the mining sector in order to create employment and to reduce poverty among the people.

The Vice President also stated that the mining sector remained a key contributor to the country’s economic growth.

He called for increased investment in infrastructure and energy to be at par with the economic growth, Zambia was currently experiencing.

“Transport and communication infrastructure have come under pressure due to the increase in mining activities in the mining sector, without infrastructure doing business will be difficult”, he said.

He also called on investors to partner with Government to equip Zambians with skills for them to be good custodians of investment.

The Vice President further urged stakeholders in the mining industry to support the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) which is aimed at managing mineral resources for the benefit of Zambians.

Speaking at the same occasion, Mines Minister Maxwell Mwale stated that Government would not nationalise the mines anymore.

Mr. Mwale said Government’s strategy for the development of the mining industry was to attract and to retain private investment.

He said the privatisation process which Government undertook in the mining sector between 1996 and 2000 was bearing fruit as evidenced by the flood of investment into the country.

The Minister noted that the country was recording positive economic growth owing to revival of the mining industry.

“The revival of the mining industry is evidenced by the resurgence of mineral exploration in Zambia . Over US$400 million has been invested in mineral exploration over the last ten years by both large and small companies. Zambia has also opened up oil and gas exploration”, he said.

Mr. Mwale further said the revival of the mining industry could also be noted by the recapitalisation of older mines that had resulted in the execution of development projects that could not be undertaken previously such as the Konkola Deep Mine project.

He said the country had recorded significant increase in capital investment in mining, adding that even in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008, capital investment continued to flow into the mining sector.

“Although the economy is diversifying into other sectors, the contribution of mining to economic growth will continue to grow. This is possible as Zambia has enormous mineral resources some of which are yet to be explored and exploited. I hasten to say that 42 percent of the country still remains to be explored”, he said.

He further called for an accelerated rate of exploration of mineral resources in order to raise the country to middle income status.

Mr. Mwale pointed out that the increase in exploration activities could only come about through the development of new mines and increased production volumes from existing ones.

And the Minister said Government was currently reviewing the Mines and Minerals Development Act of 2008 to bring it in line with international best practices and ensure the sector contributed to economic growth.

Mr. Mwale said Government was aware of the need to improve the competitiveness of the mining industry and was implementing measures to improve the country’s infrastructure and labour productivity.

He said a conducive investment environment and a competitive industry would raise the inflow of investment beyond the current high levels.

The mining conference has attracted over 600 delegates locally and from South Africa, United Kingdom, Russia, United States America (USA) and India and it runs until this Friday

[ ZANIS ]