Mines and Mineral Development Minister, Paul Kabuswe says the management and pricing of minerals on the African continent is critical for the continent’s realization of its benefit and prosperity.
Mr. Kabuswe said this on the sidelines of the AU Mid-Year Coordination meeting in Lusaka today that Africa is endowed with vast minerals and that countries need to work together because there is a lot of strength in unity.
He cited the gold sub-sector and the pricing mechanism as one area that requires Africa to realize benefits from.
Mr. Kabuswe charged that Zambia has huge amounts of gold in various parts of the country which are in the process of formalizing.
He indicated that his working trips to Ghana, Tanzania and Botswana have opened up opportunities for Zambia’s small scale sectors which are now being formalized.
He said the African Union Summit should unite Africa and see how it can exploit its mineral wealth and realize the potential it has.
“Africa can get the real benefits from the huge mineral deposits because it controls 70 percent of the mineral endowment on the globe yet we look like a very poor continent,” he said.
And local delegates have described the AU Summit as progressive for the African continent.
Leader of all Progressive Alliance Party, Simon Banda said the summit has marketed Zambia and provided linkages and networks for Zambia to be known not only on the continent but the world at large.
“From today onwards Zambia will never be the same because it’s various sectors ranging from mining, tourism , agriculture and others have been marketed,” he said
He added that this is an opportunity that has been anticipated for a very long time and it is paramount that Zambia should ensure to exploit all the avenues.
Meanwhile Foreign observers have applauded the African Union for coming together to discuss ways to collaborate with other partners on the global community in order to address the challenges African countries are facing.
“..Mines and Mineral Development Minister, Paul Kabuswe says the management and pricing of minerals on the African continent is critical…..”
Can you also drop the secrecy surrounding mineral exploration and mining………..
There is too much secrecy…….all you hear is ” such and such mine taxed..”…”exploration licesence give to so and so ” ……
Never information of what minerals are being mined………
Keeping Zambians in the dark, that’s why foreigners are stripping our minerals while we ponder in ignorance………
To get some positive results you need to focus properly ba chilolo.
We all know we don’t price our own product. Managing is perhaps what we should focus on as foreign investors want to impose a management that is exploitative
London puts Europe’s price on the minerals we produce. That’s what capitalism wants and we seem helpless about it.
We tried to do something about it in the 60s, when Kaunda, Mobutu, Chile’s Eduardo Frei and the Peruvian president came together to form CIPEC. But Cipec has never had OPEC’s clout. Dont you think your challenge is to develop strategies for Zambia’s audible participation in the price? One way is to resurrect beneficiation companies like ZAMEFA
YES AFRICA HAS VAST MINERAL WEALTH AND SHOULD BE WORLD LEADER
BUT UNFORTUNATELY WE HAVE BEEN RULED IN THE PAST BY PRESIDENTS WHO WERE INTERESTED IN THEIR OWN POCKETS ONLY
In the past??? Right now. Just right now
This totally incompetent minister doesn’t understand that the buyers of the mines’ production are invariably FOREIGNERS – they have the money and therefore determine what happens. Difficult huh Kabuswe???
But they need the minerals and will pay a higher price if they have to. African countries can not afford not to be selfish about this and get the benefit from their natural resources.
The comments from the rejected regime should be ignored with the contempt they deserve