Zambia moves to gain more control of its mining wealth from foreign firms, but says it won’t use force

Zambia seeks to expand its equity in domestic mining assets, reflecting a broader pan-African trend toward the localization of mine ownership.

The Southern African country’s state ​investment company, ZCCM Investments Holdings, recently relayed its intent to increase its minority stakes in mining assets.

This was made known by the company’s CEO, Kakenenwa Muyangwa, who also noted that any such increase would be on commercial terms and not through forced sales.

As seen on Reuters, the Zambian investment firm currently boasts meager interests in many of the mining assets in the country, from as low as 10%, including those owned by ​China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group, Canada's First Quantum Minerals, and India's Vedanta Resources.

"There is ⁠clear intent for us to have substantial stakes in our existing mining assets," Muyangwa told the aforementioned publication on ​Thursday.