Copper rush promises new riches for Zambia

FIVE years after becoming Africa’ first Covid-era debt defaulter, Zambia is seeing a dramatic turnaround in fortunes as major powers vie for access to its vast reserves of copper.

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Surging demand from the artificial intelligence, green energy and defence sectors has exponentially boosted demand for the workhorse metal that underpins power grids, data centres and electric vehicles.

The scramble for copper exposes geopolitical rivalries as industrial heavyweights - including China, the US, Canada, Europe, India and Gulf states — compete to secure supplies.

“We have the investors back,” President Hakainde Hichilema told delegates at the African Mining Indaba conference, saying that more than $12 billion had flowed into the sector since 2022.

The politically stable country is Africa's second-largest copper producer, after the conflict-ridden Democratic Republic of Congo, and the world’s eighth, according to the US Geological Survey.

The metal, needed for solar panels and wind turbines, generates about 15% of Zambia’s GDP and more than 70% of export earnings.

Output rose eight percent last year to more than 890 000 metric tons and the government aims to triple production within a decade.