Zambia resumes mineral exports

Zambia’s new government has
been quick to meet its election
promises of clamping down on
corruption.
Exports of copper and other
minerals, including cobalt, gold
and nickel were suspended
on October 4 pending the
implementation of new measures
aimed at improving revenue
collection and transparency in the
mining sector.
“All current permits issued
by my ministry are immediately
suspended pending issuance of new
guidelines by the government,”
permanent secretary Godwin
Beene told miners last week.
He told the Post newspaper “this
is just a (temporary) ban which
will be lifted next week. So there
is no need to panic.”
On Friday, October 7, cabinet
minister Miles Sampa announced
that a metal export verification
desk had been established at
the central bank, and that the
temporary ban had been lifted.
Copper accounts for three
quarters of Zambia’s export
earnings, but the mining industry
contributes only about 10% of its
tax revenue, according to official
statistics.
There is also a discrepancy in
the destination of the exports.
Official manifests show that many
of the copper exports are destined
for Switzerland, but this is not
reflected in Swiss customs data,
according to reports.
FTW’s information from visiting
the freight forwarding industry
in Zambia recently is that the
majority of the cargo is bound for
the East.
Any long-term disruption to
the export of copper would have
affected all levels of the logistics
industry in Zambia, as well as the
ports of Durban, Maputo, Walvis
Bay and Beira – which has just
come back on stream.
Around two thousand tons of
copper a day is exported from
Zambia.