• World Bank is committed to supporting African countries to translate Africa’s mineral wealth into sustainable and inclusive national development.
• The Bank is providing analytical support to Zambia to assess what is needed to unlock further investment in Energy Transition Minerals.
• The institution is working closely with a cross-sectoral Government team with the objective of preparing a strategic roadmap.

World Bank has urged Zambia to consider capturing other benefits beyond the mining sector, in a bid to leverage the Energy Transition Minerals potential into economic transformation.
Bank Regional Director for Infrastructure, Eastern and Southern Africa Region, Wendy Hughes said the institution is providing diagnostic and analytical support to Zambia to assess what is needed to unlock further investment in the country’s Energy Transition Minerals.
Speaking at a workshop on the development of a roadmap for leveraging Zambia’s energy transition minerals endowments for economic transformation in Lusaka, Ms. Hughes stated that the Bank is also trying to evaluate broader economic development opportunities associated with expanded energy transition minerals output and diversification.
“The World Bank is committed to supporting African countries to translate Africa’s mineral wealth into sustainable and inclusive national development. We are working closely with a cross-sectoral Government team with the objective of preparing a strategic roadmap to realize Zambia’s economic transformation potential from the Energy Transition Minerals.”
“This will include: Estimates of required investments for scaling mineral and value-added output; Prioritized inventories of investment targets, financing instruments and timelines; Prioritized plans for technical assistance to support reforms and capacity building; and Proposed frameworks for coordination with neighboring countries,” Ms. Hughes stated.
She added that given the wide range of opportunities, constraints, and initiatives already underway, it is important to have an overview of the scope, sequence, investments and reforms needed to ensure success as this is the goal of developing the Roadmap for Leveraging Zambia’s Energy Transition Minerals for Economic Transformation.
And in his keynoted address, Minister of Finance and National Planning Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane underscored the need for Zambia to strategically position itself to meet the demand for energy transition minerals both domestically and internationally.
Dr. Musokotwane noted that Government is already making strides to move the transition to a green economy forward as the country is endowed with many key mineral resources such as copper, nickel and cobalt.
He said that it is in this vain that the World Bank in collaboration with ministries of Finance and Mines wish to develop a road map that will guide the country’s agenda on energy transition.
“There is a global transition to the use of low-carbon emitting energy resources so as to mitigate the effects of climate change. While recognizing the devastating effects of climate change such as the el-Niño the country is currently facing, Zambia has chosen to utilize the opportunities that this challenge has presented. Government is already making strides to move the transition to a green economy forward.”
“It is for such a reason that Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo have entered in a Memorandum of Understating to develop a cross-border integrated value chain for the production of electric vehicle batteries. This is intended to contribute to the adaptation efforts and play a role in the move towards clean energy,” Dr. Musokotwane stated.
He said it is impossible to determine the improvement of the economy without considering the mining sector because the industry plays a crucial role in the overall growth of the economy, as its performance directly impacts development outcomes.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Mines Permanent Secretary Hapenga Kabeta reiterated that mining remains the background of Zambia’s economy accounting for over 70 percent of export earnings sand 17.5 percent of the country’s gross rate products.
Zambia is Africa’s 2nd largest copper producer, with approximately 800,000 metric tonnes of annual production approximately 4% of global output and hosting reserves/resources estimated at over 60 million tonnes.