Zambia Investor Briefing: February 2024
OVERVIEW
President Hakainde Hichilema addressed the opening session of Cape Town’s Investing in African Mining Indaba earlier this month. His speech emphasised Zambia’s message of “Invest with Confidence” and highlighted recent investments in the country totalling over $4 billion in the past two years. Hichilema also outlined his government’s work with local and international partners in boosting Zambia’s energy and transport infrastructure as he called for investment partnerships to “power this new, green African future”.
KoBold Metals, a mining consortium backed by tech giants Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, has announced its discovery of a vast copper deposit in Zambia. The California-based startup claims its Mingomba site, in the northern Copperbelt province, is the country’s largest copper deposit in a century.
President Hakainde Hichilema, together with Senior Advisor to President Biden Amos Hochstein and President of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) Samaila Zubairu, convened an investment forum for the Lobito Corridor project in Zambia. The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) Lobito Corridor Private Sector Investor Forum in Lusaka brought together over 250 government and industry leaders from Zambia, Angola, the DRC, the EU and the US, as well as international investors.
The Zambian Kwacha is Africa’s best-performing currency in 2024 when compared to the US dollar. The currency is on its longest winning streak in a year, largely because of President Hakainde Hichilema’s government’s decision to increase interest rates and mandate that the central bank retain money in the reserve.
German company 7YRDS Group is set to invest $100 million in two solar projects in Kafue and Sesheke, with a total expected output of 100MW. Operations will commence in 2025 and are expected to create around 1,000 jobs. President Hichilema praised the investment and emphasised his government’s commitment to collaboration with international partners to strengthen Zambia’s energy sector.
In a positive development in the ongoing efforts to restructure Zambia’s debt, Hichilema has announced that China and India – the last two countries that had been yet to sign as official creditors – have signed agreements to restructure their holdings of Zambian debt. Attention now turns to private creditors. Finance Minister Situmbuko Musokotwane had recently expressed optimism that the restructuring would be completed in the first half of this year.
A CLOSER LOOK
Investing in African Mining Indaba 2024
President Hakainde Hichilema addressed the opening session of Cape Town’s Investing in African Mining Indaba earlier this month. His speech emphasised Zambia’s message of “Invest with Confidence” and highlighted recent investments in the country totalling over $4 billion in the past two years. Hichilema also outlined his government’s work with local and international partners in boosting Zambia’s energy and transport infrastructure as he called for investment partnerships to “power this new, green African future”.
First Quantum Minerals (FQM) pledged its support for the president’s vision for the future of Zambian mining in a talk given by the company’s Lead of Infrastructure Development, Jed Goldstein, in which he stressed FQM’s “commitment to Zambia”. The government’s efforts also garnered praise from Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad, who said Zambia “is doing a really good job of making mining investable in that country”.
Mining Developments
KoBold Metals, a mining consortium backed by tech giants Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, has announced its discovery of a vast copper deposit in Zambia. The California-based startup claims its Mingomba site, in the northern Copperbelt province, is the country’s largest copper deposit in a century. KoBold’s founder and president Josh Goldman told the Financial Times: “We now know that Mingomba will be one of the very highest grade large copper mines when put into production”, comparing it to the Kamoa-Kakula mine in the DRC in scale and grade.
The startup deploys artificial intelligence in its exploration for minerals, including copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium. KoBold’s plans to build a $2 billion mine at Mingomba are set to be fast-tracked in the rush to meet demand for critical metals as part of the green energy transition. Goldman told Reuters the company is “receptive to conversations about all kinds of different partnerships” in this regard. If successful, the project will be instrumental in meeting Hichilema’s aim to treble Zambia’s copper output to 3 million tonnes by 2032.
KoBold is also set to expand its presence in Zambia after signing a deal with Midnight Sun Mining to explore its Dumbwa Target in Solwezi.
In other mining news, Anglo American is in the early stages of exploring for copper and cobalt in the North-Western Province, with its CEO Duncan Wanblad announcing that Zambia’s mining sector is “on track for renewed activity”.
Rail Development Projects
President Hakainde Hichilema, together with Senior Advisor to President Biden Amos Hochstein and President of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) Samaila Zubairu, convened an investment forum for the Lobito Corridor project in Zambia. The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) Lobito Corridor Private Sector Investor Forum in Lusaka brought together over 250 government and industry leaders from Zambia, Angola, the DRC, the EU and the US, as well as international investors, in order to “unlock the enormous potential of this region”. Various commitments were announced during the PGI Forum, including a $250 million investment to support the project from the US International Development Finance Corporation.
Speaking at the forum, President Hichilema described the Lobito Corridor as a “once in a lifetime” opportunity for Zambia’s development. It will significantly reduce transport time for the country’s mining output, including copper and cobalt, to reach the coast. The rail line has its first user lined up after Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines signed a deal with commodities trader Trafigura Group to transport copper on the line from the DRC to Lobito.
Also this month, China announced plans for a $1 billion project restoring a rail line connecting Zambia’s copperbelt region with the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam. This follows reports from November 2023 that the Chinese government had asked China Railway Construction Corp., a state-owned company, to negotiate a concession to revive and operate the Tazara railway. The line has fallen into disrepair in past decades but originally had a capacity of about five million tonnes per year. Hichilema has said Zambia is on track to conclude the deal by September.
OTHER NEWS
How five southern African countries worked to put KAZA on the map (Forbes, 07.02.24)
Canadian government hails Zambia as attractive mining investment destination (Lusaka Times, 13.02.24)
Zambia’s Proflight adds Cape Town to its list (eNCA, 22.02.24)
US bets on $2.3 billion African railway to help deliver EV revolution (Bloomberg, 21.02.24)
Modern mining: A sustainability balancing act (African Business, 26.02.24)
UPCOMING EVENTS
Bonds, Loans & ESG Capital Markets Africa 2024 - Cape Town, SA, 05-06.03.24
Global Trade Review Africa 2024 - Cape Town, SA, 07-08.03.24
Global Impact Summit: Sustainable Media and Publishing for Sustainable Economic Development - Livingstone, Zambia 07-09.03.24
Fintech Spotlight: Moving Africa’s Money (Invest Africa) London, UK - 21.03.24