Zambians have little to benefit despite having plenty

By Daily Revelation Editor

Gemfields Zambia has unearthed a colossal emerald weighing 11,685 carats and will be sold at the auction running until September 11, 2025.

Mining.Com reported that the emerald, named Imboo, meaning buffalo in the local Bemba and Lamba dialects, was the largest of several extraordinary emeralds unearthed at Kagem, already famed for record-breaking finds, and that it would be sold at Gemfields’ auction running until Sept. 11.

The unearthed wealth, though precious, represents an insignificant fraction of the wealth that is unearthed in this country daily. The fact that it is up for auction reminds us of the wealth resource endowment in this country, whose people unfortunately continue to suffer the afflictions of poverty and indebtedness to the foreign lenders.

In addition to these precious stones, this country is endowed with rich minerals such as copper, gold and cobalt just to mention a few. There are also abundant water resources flowing across the country, arable land and even good rainfall that if utilized wisely could have catapulted this country to the higher echelons of some of the richest on earth. The resource base which those coming out of the country see, and which we who live in it may not see, and in most instances our governments have failed to turn the same into sustainable benefits for the nation’s citizens.

We are a nation that continues to sacrifice our wealth at the mercy of peanuts in form of taxes, and most of the time we even reverse policies aimed at adding beneficiation to these mineral resources.

It was not too long ago when our government, through Finance minister Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane, issued Statutory Instrument No. 4 of 2025 on February 18, 2025, to suspend the 15% export duty on precious stones and metals. He claimed that the measure aims to increase the competitiveness of local producers on the global market, attract more investment into the gemstone sector, and boost foreign exchange earnings through higher sales volumes and diversified exports. Wow!!

Musokotwane was at it again when he scrapped the export tax on copper concentrates, according to Statutory Instrument No. 47 of 2025 scrapping export taxes on raw material exports.

The nation will also remember that the country did away with the windfall tax under the administration of Rupiah Banda with Muskotwane as his finance minister.

While Musokotwane seems to always have a justification for these counterproductive policies, it is very difficult to tell how the country would benefit from the same. Maybe he needs to explain how over time the removal of the windfall tax benefited the country, or how these suspensions on export duties would. As these retrogressive policies are benefiting mostly the investor, it is the Zambians who continue to wallow in abject poverty with very little benefit from their own resources. They will only be left with holes in the future which may even prove environmentally hazardous.  This country is surely in desperate need of patriotic leadership that looks out for the greater good of the country.