By Patson Chilemba
Economic Front (EF) leader Wynter Kabimba has charged that President Hakainde Hichilema’s recent trip to South Africa for the Mining Indaba was aimed at concluding the pre-election deals between the UPND and multinational corporations.
Outlining the sequence of events where the President first talked up the strategic importance of cobalt in the 21st century technology, followed by an MoU which was signed with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi which was followed by the presidential trip to South Africa for the Mining Indaba and then immediately following that an announcement that Anglo-American will invest $3.5 million in the copper-cobalt exploration licence, Kabimba said everything was now becoming clear for all to see.
“It was to go and conclude the pre-election deals. That is what it was. Otherwise what would HH be doing in South Africa for four days? Even (Cyril) Ramaphosa the host President did not spend four days at the Indaba. Even the Botswana President did not spend four days at the Indaba. What business would a head of state be doing at such an Indaba? I have attended that Indaba myself before,” Kabimba said. “What would he be doing at the Indaba for four days, in the absence of the host President? So it all ties up very very well.”
Kabimba said he had said it before that everything people were seeing now under the UPND government is based on pre-election deals which were entered into between the UPND and the respective mining companies.
“There is no doubt now from the circumstantial evidence that is emerging that these mining companies bankrolled the UPND election last year. That is what is emerging as being very clear. So the UPND government promised to deliver our natural resources in the mining industry to these multinational corporations in exchange for their financial support in the elections,” Kabimba said. “And now they are demanding that UPND must deliver on their promise and that is what is happening. So there is nothing that should be looked at as being an accident. There is nothing that should be perceived as if these are things that are being discussed now.”
Kabimba said Anglo-American, the company which left Zambia some 20 years ago at the time of most need, has been fighting to come back since they left two decades ago.
“But what they didn’t find was user friendly governments. They didn’t find that in Levy Mwanawasa, they didn’t find that in Rupiah Banda. They didn’t find that in in Michael Sata. They only managed to find that with HH. That is the truth of the matter. So Anglo regretted their disinvestment from Zambia during the MMD government,” Kabimba said.
Asked to comment on the fact that the company which left the country at the time of most need had been welcomed back in again with open arms by those in leadership, Kabimba said “this is international monopoly capital”, which works like a fly following where “the sewage is.”
“A fly follows where the sewage is because that is its conducive environment to lay eggs. So Anglo-American has found Zambia as a sewage for it to make profit. And hence its fighting back now using a user friendly government which they have found in HH and the UPND,” Kabimba said.
Kabimba argued that this was not the first time the country was receiving investment in the mining sector, but even when the price of copper has hit the highest on the international market there has been little benefit to Zambians.
He said if the mining investment was as viable as is being said, the Copperbelt would be awash with wealth right now, yet the people there were suffering, arguing that large scale mining does not translate into job creation because of the nature of machinery and advanced technology which has replaced the need for huge manpower.
He said if he were president he would separate large scale mining from small scale mining by first setting up a state owned bank for small scale mining development, and that he would also enact a law to ensure that small scale mining was left to Zambians.
He said this was so because small scale mining did not require large machinery but was labour intensive, saying that is what would create employment and change the face of the Copperbelt and the country.
Kabimba said he was not against Foreign Direct Investment, but what should be considered was the ultimate objective of such investment, as the ultimate objective of international monopoly capitol was to make profit and not falling in love with the host country.
“So when you argue as HH argues that this investment is good for employment creation, that is not true. It is good for them to come and make a profit. And in order to make a profit, they want to make sure that the cost of production of copper is minimised, and for them to minimise the cost of production of copper they can’t do it using a labour intensive method,” Kabimba said. “They will use machinery and technology which machines replace the human beings that you are talking about as offering employment. That is a contradiction and HH is being duplicitous. He knows he’s talking to a population that is gullible. So they will buy into his neo-liberal ideas.”
Kabimba said the whole idea of giving concessions to the companies was part of the package agreed upon with monopoly capital, saying they have come with demands for tax holidays.
“They have got the royalty tax removed. The machinery which they bring they declare that as capital investment so that it reduces on the corporate tax which they have to pay to ZRA. So at the end of the day, the host country ends getting nothing. And this idea of saying we want to make sure that we produce 3million tones of copper in the next 10 years, the copper is only yours when it is underground,” Kabimba said. “Once it comes out of the ground, it’s not your copper. It belongs to First Quantum. It belongs to Anglo-American. And then it is shipped out of Zambia to the London metal exchange. Does HH have a say on the price of copper at the London Metal Exchange?…That 3million only translates into profit for Anglo-American not Zambia.”
Arc Minerals (ARCMA.L) said on Thursday that Anglo American (AAL.L) will take majority control of its Zambia copper-cobalt exploration licences. It marks the first new investment by Anglo in Zambia in 20 years.
Under the deal, which was first reported by Reuters, Anglo will take 70% of a joint venture with Arc that will own licenses to explore Zambia’s copper-rich North-Western province, an area that Anglo previously explored in the late 1990s.
Major mining firms are searching for new sources of the battery metals copper and cobalt, especially in the wake of the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia which has sent metal prices soaring.
Anglo American will pay $3.5 million into the joint venture upon signing. It will be able to retain its stake by spending $74 million on exploration within seven years of signing and making cash payments of $11 million into the JV, according to terms of the deal.
