Hichilema Returns from Successful US Summit
President Hichilema has returned from the United States following his trip to attend the US-Africa Leaders Summit 2022.
The summit, held in Washington D.C., was considered a great success as the Biden administration sought to deepen ties with African leaders and commit to investing in their futures.
Speaking on Friday, December 16, President Hichilema described the summit as “momentous” following the signing of a new multi-million dollar investment in Zambia’s mining industry. U.S. company KoBold Metals announced a $150 million dollar (K2,654,442,000) investment to explore and develop Zambia’s Mingomba Copper Mine.
The company, supported by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, will invest $115 million into the existing mining site Lubambe Mine whilst beginning exploration at neighbouring Lubambe Copper Mine which has remained underutilised for decades.
Hichilema has set ambitious growth targets for the Zambian economy and the copper mining sector which require significant investment to achieve. Reaching the target of tripping copper production, for example, is expected to prove a challenge given research indicates a significant proportion of metal mineral deposits have already been found and retrieved. This is why the president is supportive of the “new ideas, and new technology” that KoBold seeks to bring to Zambia.
The firm uses artificial intelligence in order to efficiently locate, map, and dig for minerals hidden deep under the earth’s surface. The demands placed on the Copper industry are increasing as electric batteries rely on rare earth metals such as lithium and also on Copper. As this industry expands, so too does the need to acquire these metals. In the words of KoBold’s President, the copper in this mine can lead to “100 million electric vehicles”.
In order to maintain 4% economic growth and transition into a middle-income country, as per the ambitions of the UPND’s 8th National Development Plan, Hichilema wants to see copper production triple to 3 million metric tonnes. This investment, combined with the memorandum of understanding signed with the DRC at the conference, may help ensure Zambia remains at the forefront of the transition to electric vehicles and achieves its economic goals.
Michael Gonzales, U.S. ambassador to Zambia, commented that the agreement “sends a powerful signal that the U.S. and its allies can and will compete successfully for the minerals and resources that will power the global clean energy transition.”
Speaking at the summit, President Hichilema emphasised the importance of ensuring the “rule of law, and rights liberties and freedoms are respected”, a vital theme of the summit as the nations signed the U.S.-Africa Partnership in Promoting Peace, Security, and Democratic Governance. The partnership represents a commitment to “mutual learning and collaboration” to help promote democracy. President Biden also met with the leaders of all African states set to hold elections in 2023 in order to further this ambition. Zambia is one of the very few African nations where no political coup has ever succeeded whilst the power transfers have been peaceful since 1997.
In addition to this, the summit saw Hichilema visit the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, speak at the Civil Society Forum and meet with President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.