Zambia hopes mining will trigger economic revival
Zambia is pinning its hopes on the mining sector for an economic revival after the worst drought in living memory caused a sharp slowdown in growth this year, its finance minister said on Tuesday.
Situmbeko Musokotwane told an event on the economic outlook that new mines were opening imminently and old mines were re-investing to lift output.
"If all goes according to plan, 2025 should be the start of this revival and it will be getting stronger and stronger each year going forward," he said.
The government estimates last year's copper production was over 770 000 tons, an increase on the 698,000 tons produced in 2023.
Zambia wants to raise copper output to about 1 million tons by 2026 and further out to 3 million tons.
A finance ministry presentation to the same event showed officials were still optimistic that economic growth would reach 6.6% this year.
The government has revised down its estimate for 2024 growth to 1.2% from the 2.3% forecast given in September due to the lingering effects of the drought, the presentation said.
Zambia is still targeting a budget deficit of 3.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, higher than the latest estimate of last year's deficit, which now stands at 2.7% of GDP.
The southern African country, the first African nation to default on its sovereign debt during the Covid-19 pandemic, has agreed restructuring terms for 90% of the external debt that it had hoped to restructure, the presentation also showed.
Zambian officials, including the secretary to the treasury and central bank governor, are in China to discuss some of the debt that still needs to be reworked, Musokotwane said.
Comments
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Klüber Lubrication ensures that the world’s essential systems—drive units, machines, and water flow—operate efficiently, sustainably, and reliably...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Rentech provides renewable energy products and services to the local and selected African markets. Supplying inverters, lithium and lead-acid...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
