Resources can create massive prosperity on the African continent – but only when unlocked through strategic partnerships.
This was the message from Zambian president Hakainde Hichilema, delivering the keynote speech on the opening day of Investing in African Mining Indaba 2026, the largest event of its kind, and a pivotal event for mining professionals, investors, and industry leaders.
Mining holds the key to revitalising Africa, and ensuring the continent takes its rightful place at the forefront of the global economy, said Hichilema, speaking from the Zambian experience.
President Hichilema described how his government had placed the revitalisation of Zambia’s mining sector at the centre of its economic agenda, creating regulatory certainty, transparency, stronger institutions, and by deploying game-changing mining technologies for long-term growth.
With the rise of copper as a critical mineral needed for artificial intelligence, defence and electrification, the copper-rich southern-African nation is benefiting from an unprecedented demand for the metal.
Hichilema said the Mining Indaba event symbolises Africa’s dream of transformative partnership.
“Zambia agrees that we are stronger together,” said Hichilema. “We all have capabilities, endowments, skills and experience. But no single one of us has enough to deliver the total package for our economies.”
Hichilema unpacked the Zambian success story, which has seen the country turning its economy around from an annual growth rate of -2.8% to 6.4% within four years. He said that partnerships with mining houses had been at the centre of the country’s transformation.
Hichilema said the key to transforming Africa’s fortunes through mining would lie in providing a clear path that partners and investors could follow.
“We have to take leadership,” he said. “If we do that, others will support our strategies. It’s easy to support people with a clear vision. But we must get organised, so we can be worthy partners in the global community.
Hichilema outlined several of the country’s achievements, en route to its medium-term target of producing three million tonnes of copper per year.
The disciplined reforms launched by Hichilema’s government have seen an end to endemic litigation in the mining sector, and the country successfully completing 38 months of reviews under the IMF’s extended-credit-facility recovery programme.
Hichilema encouraged African countries to change the narrative where the IMF came in and constructed programmes for the country.
“We must construct our own recovery programmes and ask the IMF to support us,” he said. “Those programmes should be about growth – not just fiscal consolidation and macro stability.”
Zambia’s achievements under Hichilema have also seen inflation drop to single digits, from a high of 22%.
The country’s mining sector is now delivering jobs, and business opportunities for small and medium business.
Taxes from a revitalised mining sector have allowed the country expand its free education programme, and enrol 2.3 million children at school.
Zambia is also completing its first high-resolution geophysical survey in 50 years – helping to derisk exploration for miners and streamlining mining approval processes.
More than $12 billion in new foreign investment has flowed into Zambia since 2022 – almost all of it into mining projects, on the back of the global copper boom. Copper production rose 12% in 2024, and 8% in 2025.
Elaborating on the need for partnerships, Hichilema said the countries of Africa needed to build regional value chains around logistics, and well as beneficiation.
“Whether it’s the Tazara Railway or the Lobito Corridor, we need to focus not just on transport, but on what we are transporting,” he said. “We need a shared vision for beneficiation that moves beyond the port-to-pit approach.
“Mining is about empowerment, equity and shared prosperity,” concluded Hichilema. “Let us use it to unlock Africa’s promise of better opportunities for the young people of our continent.”
Mining Indaba provides a platform for direct dialogue between African governments and the global mining and investment community.
Delivering the event welcoming speech earlier, South African minister of mineral and petroleum resources Gwede Mantashe said it was imperative for Africa to act collectively, and to speak with one voice to the mining sector.
“Trade unionists understand that workers cannot negotiate alone,” he said. “The same applies to Africa. We must negotiate mining and beneficiation deals with the rest of the world as a single economy.”
This year’s Investing In African Mining is the 32nd edition of the event. It is taking place under the theme, “Stronger Together: Progress Through Partnerships”.
The gathering is Africa’s largest mining investment conference, bringing together governments, mining companies, investors, and financiers from across the global mining value chain.
• Investing In African Mining Indaba 2026 is being held at CTICC 1 and 2 in Cape Town from February 9 – 12.
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