The third Zambia Mining and Investment Insaka moved from exhortation to proposals on Tuesday 20 October. Representing President Duma Boko, Botswana’s Minister of Minerals and Energy Bogolo Joy Kenewendo told the gathering at Mulungushi International Conference Centre that Africa must move beyond being a source of raw materials and build industries that process minerals and make mining equipment, Zambia Monitor reported. Botswana and Zambia, she said, could pair their resources, technical expertise and geography in skills development, equipment manufacturing, engineering and regional supply chains, with a possible industrial campus linked to a proposed 300-megawatt solar plant and battery storage facility, subject to commercial and technical assessment.
Speaking for President Félix Tshisekedi, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mines minister Louis Watum Kabamba pointed to the shared Copperbelt, proposed rail investment to ease border congestion and called for cooperation on geological research and on curbing the illicit minerals trade, according to Zambia Monitor and African Mining Market. Acting Minister of Mines Gilbert Siame — who at Monday’s opening had set a target of three million tonnes of copper a year within five years, according to Lusaka Times — said reforms should be judged by their effect on ordinary Zambians, with more local processing and manufacturing.
The President’s opening
President Hakainde Hichilema opened the four-day event on Monday 19 October before more than 1,300 local and foreign delegates, the Times of Zambia reported, and his message was impatience. He said one investor had held a licence for more than 25 years without developing it, that the government now applies a use-it-or-lose-it approach to tenements, and that holders who cannot explore should consider joint ventures with capable partners, Lusaka Times reported.
We need to agree that tenements must be explored prospectively.
— President Hakainde Hichilema, opening the Zambia Mining and Investment Insaka in Lusaka on Monday 19 October, as reported by the Times of Zambia
He told delegates the Insaka was not a holiday but a business, urged them to use the reserved deal rooms in the Kenneth Kaunda wing and to close transactions rather than schedule the next meeting, and said that mining disputes belong in boardrooms, not courtrooms.
The survey and the numbers
The President said the nationwide high-resolution geophysical survey, covering 752,000 square kilometres at a cost to the state of almost US$100 million, would be complete within a month and fills a gap left for 62 years. He cited Luanshya’s 28 Shaft and the Kalengwa mine as idle assets being revived, said Konkola Copper Mines had agreed to contribute 300,000 tonnes towards the national copper target, and put local-content commitments at close to US$1 billion for local suppliers in about a year, with Kansanshi’s US$1.3 billion S3 expansion sourcing cabling, electricals and grinding balls locally. He also said government vehicle purchases would move to electric vehicles where practical and that the next budget would fund a skills centre in each of the 116 districts.
Figures cited at the Insaka
- 3 million tonnes — annual copper target
- 752,000 km² — area of the national geophysical survey, costed at almost US$100 million
- 300,000 tonnes — KCM’s stated contribution to the target
- US$1.3 billion — Kansanshi S3 expansion
- 300 MW — solar project proposed alongside a Botswana–Zambia industrial campus
Sources: Zambia Monitor, “Botswana, DRC urge Zambia to deepen regional mining partnerships” (20 Oct 2026); Times of Zambia, “Consummate mining deals – HH prods” (20 Oct 2026); Lusaka Times, ““Use It Or Lose It”: Hichilema Fires Warning At Mining Licence Hoarders” (19 Oct 2026); African Mining Market, “President Hichilema calls for active use of mining rights” (20 Oct 2026).