The economy of Zambia is dominated by copper mining and is the major contributor to the GDP. The mining procurement value chain is worth between USD $2 – 4 billion annually in goods and services (Fessehaie et al. 2015). According to the AfDB report more than 80% of goods and services are locally procured. However, huge quantities of the goods supplied and consumed by the Mines are imported by foreign owned firms hence leaving very minimal goods to be supplied by the indigent local manufacturing companies.
It is from this backdrop that the Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) in the first and second quarter of 2020 engaged the CEO’s of the mining company such as Barrick Gold (Lumwana Mines), Kansanshi Copper Mines (FQML), Kalumbila Mines, Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) and Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) to discuss how both parties the mining companies and manufacturing companies could work together to enhance the local content procurement. The outcomes of the meetings have tremendously brought change in most of the manufacturing companies that have been engaged so far. Suffice to mention, that the Zambia Association of Manufacturers have also been actively involved in the process of implementing a Statutory Instrument focusing on increasing Local Content and Community Development though Prospero Zambia and the Ministry of Mines and Mineral Development.
We strongly believe that the implementation of the SI will work to the advantage to the mining companies and manufacturers at large. Hence through the increase of Local Content employment will raise, businesses opportunities will increase and as such will likely to increase the manufacturers GDP contribution toward ZAM’s goal to increase GDP contribution to 20% by the year 2030, that will also work in line with the vision 2030 of Zambians becoming a middle income industrial economy by 2030.
