Zambia has announced a groundbreaking move to buy and sell some of its copper production, positioning itself as a competitor against trading behemoths like Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. and Glencore Plc. This strategic decision aims to enhance pricing transparency in the copper market and could allow the government to receive copper directly instead of traditional mining royalties.
During a new interview, Jito Kayumba, the senior economic adviser to President Hakainde Hichilema, emphasized the importance of fairness and commercial viability in this new venture.
Formidable commercial player
- We want to do it reasonably; that’s commercially suitable for the mining companies, Kayumba stated. He highlighted the country's intention to emerge as a formidable commercial player in the commodities trading space, offering financing to mines to secure a fair share of Zambia's vast copper resources.
This initiative by Zambia, a major copper-producing country in southern Africa, signifies a bold step towards asserting greater control over its natural resources. By directly engaging in the trading of copper, Zambia seeks to challenge the status quo and create more favourable economic conditions for itself in the global copper market.
Source: Government of Zambia