Zambia should cash in on Chinese economic expansion by producing more copper: expert

The expansion of the Chinese economy in the wake of the contraction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity for Zambia to increase copper production, an expert said on Thursday.

The world’s second-largest economy expanded 3.2 percent from April through June compared to the same period last year.

While welcoming the expansion in the Chinese economy, Mambo Hamaundu, a financial analyst, said Zambia should increase its copper production as demand from China was expected to increase.

He said Zambia should not allow the opportunity presented by the Chinese economy to just slip away.

“If we do not seize this opportunity, we will continue grumbling,” he said in an interview.

According to him, the high demand expected from China will not help the country if the production levels were not increased.

The government, he said, needs to ensure a favourable fiscal regime in the mining sector, adding that favourable regimes were a prerequisite for increased investment in the sector which the country requires to expand production.