Why Zambia`s Mining Future Will Be Shaped by Banks Willing to Go Early

Zambia has been producing copper since the 1930s. This copper built cities, formed the backbone of the economy at independence, and, for a period, made one of the wealthiest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Zambians do not need to be told what mining can do. They have also lived through what happens when it goes wrong, when copper prices collapse, when mines close, when towns built around a single shaft are left behind.

Dr. Iheanyi Nwogu | Managing Director, Access Bank Zambia

Walk through Solwezi, Kitwe or Chingola on any given morning and you will feel the energy of a country that knows it is sitting on something the world desperately needs.

The global energy transition has put copper at the centre of the world’s economic future. From electric vehicles to solar infrastructure and power grids, none of it moves without copper. Demand is rising steadily and all credible forecasts point in the same direction. There is no serious path to net zero without copper and the Copperbelt will play a defining role in supplying it.