· The Zambia Chamber of Mines has urged the government to leverage the positive rating of the country accorded by Fitch to put the mining industry back on the growth path
· The chamber head opined that Zambia has always had an opportunity to attract world-class mining investments into its internationally renowned mineral exploration and mining sector
· The chamber president called for removing the impediments to investment in the mining sector
The Zambia Chamber of Mines has urged the government to leverage the positive rating of the country accorded by Fitch to put the mining industry back on the growth path. This was stated by its President Godwin Beene, who underscored the buoyancy of the economy to kick start several projects which were under the back burner for quite some time. Zambia is a major producer of copper and the demand for the commodity is bullish in the international market.
The chamber head opined that Zambia has always had an opportunity to attract world-class mining investments into its internationally renowned mineral exploration and mining sector. Many companies of international repute were looking at opportunities for investing in the sector. This also will help the locals to invest in mines and to go for joint ventures with international companies to tap the resources of the country.
Recently, Fitch had given a better rating to Zambia, which has been undergoing a harrowing trajectory. It had defaulted on servicing the foreign debt. The Fitch Ratings upgraded Zambia’s Long-Term Local-Currency (LTLC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CCC’ from ‘CC’. It has also affirmed Zambia’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency (LTFC) IDR at ‘RD’, a better rating than the previous one.
The chamber president called for removing the impediments to investment in the mining sector. The government, he said, could lock in a solid production increase, which in turn would help boost the economic growth of the country.
