Dubbed as a policy dialogue, WWF Zambia in collaboration with Ministry of Mines and Mineral Development are hosting the 9th Zambia Alternative Mining Indaba (ZAMI) Policy Conference at Lusaka’s Mulungushi Conference Center from 13 to 14 April 2022.
At its opening ceremony, the event attracted various key stakeholders that included high level representatives from Ministry of Mines, Chamber of Mines, Transparency International, Council of Churches in Zambia, International community, Traditional Leaders, Private Sector and Government Officials.
The policy dialogue event aims at bringing to the spotlight the extractive industry of Zambia which according to the Co-Chairperson of the event, of the conference indicated that the industry contributed 11.1% and 31.4% to gross domestic product and GRZ revenue respectively in 2021 to and according to the Zambia extractive industry report. In addition, the sector contributed 79.6% to total exports from the country.
However, despite rave reviews of the contribution to the Zambian economy, human development has lagged behind according to the co chair. This has raised questions about the reasons for this conundrum.
Strides have been made around governance of mineral resources through legal instruments that seek to bridge the aforementioned gap such as the mines and minerals act of 2015. Civil society though still believes that a lot more needs to be done in the sector that can yield better results for e economic growth.
With this in mind, platforms such as the ZAMI has become an essential mechanism where stakeholders can meet and discuss prudent ways in which transparency and equity can be attained in the exploitation of local natural resources. The ultimate goal of ZAMI is to see to it that each and every Zambian benefits progressively through enforced recommendations from ZAMI.