Vehicle battery manufacturing project delights stakeholders

The agreement between the governments of Zambia and of the Democratic Republic of Congo to start implementing the manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries has delighted many in Zambia.

A local economist, Trevor Hambayi, has expressed joy that the agreement has been finalized.

Mr Hambayi told the media in Lusaka yesterday that the implementation of the agreement between the two countries will stimulate the economic growth of the two countries through the utilisation of the mineral resources that Zambia and Congo have.

He proposed that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should be given contracts in the processes of manufacturing electric car batteries in order to empower them.

“We are happy that the project has finally reached the implementation stage. We hope this is going to benefit the economies of the two countries,” he said.

And BuyZed Campaign Founder, Evans Ngoma, said the agreement between Zambia and DRC to begin to add value to magnesium and lithium will spur economic growth of the two countries through job creation.

Mr Ngoma said economically, the project is reassuring because it will clearly create decent and sustainable jobs.

He said this will arise from all the value chain, the mining of minerals and processing it into electric vehicle batteries.

He has meanwhile advised that there is need to critically assess the environment in order to guarantee the safety of the environment and the people living in Ndola where the plant will be situated.

Mr Ngoma said this is because lithium and lead have negative environmental effects to surroundings.

“I only hope all the necessary environmental assessment programmes are done before production commences. On this one we are talking about the environmental impact assessment,” he said.

He recalled that Zambia has had challenges of lead pollution in Kabwe that affected the health of the people living near the mines.