Zambia’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development Doctor Hapenga Kabeta, says the country is reforming its mining sector policies on critical minerals to ensure greater benefits for its citizens while encouraging strategic partnerships with foreign investors.

He was speaking at the Zambia Investment Forum hosted by the Zambian Embassy in partnership with South Africa’s (SA) Department of International Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO), in the capital Pretoria, Gauteng Province.

Hosted under the theme “From Commitment to Capital: Catalysing SA Investment for Zambia’s Industrial Renaissance,” the Zambia Trade and Investment Forum in Pretoria served as a platform to showcase investment opportunities in Zambia, while also highlighting strengthening regional economic diplomacy between the two countries.

 One of the pressing topics was on the scramble for Africa’s critical minerals by western powers.

In an engagement with Channel Africa, Kabeta says Zambia is enforcing local beneficiation and value addition at source.

“At a local level, as a country, we have established what we call the critical minerals strategy. And in the critical mineral’s strategy, we are anchoring on the need for Zambia and Zambians to benefit from the critical minerals. There must be local beneficiation, there must be local value addition taking place in the country.”

Kabeta said Zambia, alongside the Democratic Republic of Congo and SA, had previously faced mounting international pressure from global powers seeking exclusive access to critical minerals, stressing that the country would resist such demands and prioritise protecting its national interests through fair and balanced partnerships.

–Channel Africa–