Zambia will soon ban the selling of mining licences to foreigners in a move meant to empower locals.
The Zambian president Hakainde Hichilema told a quarterly meeting attended by senior public service management in Lusaka Thursday that a new would be introduced to this effect.
Hichilema said those who want to sell their mining licenses can only sell to other Zambians.
He said when a Zambian has a shareholding, they will reinvest the money they make, and the economy expands.
Alternatively, Hichilema said those with mining licences could partner with the government or a Zambian rather than sell for meagre amounts enough to buy a car.
Zambia has a revolving fund established in 2005 to help small-scale miners sustain their mining activities.
This is not the first time such a call has been made. In 2008, the then mines and minerals development minister Kalombo Mwansa implored small-scale miners to refrain from selling their licences to foreign investors.
Mwansa said the trend must end if the country is to see a reduction in poverty and create wealth through the country’s resources.
He said Zambians who sell mining licenses remained poor while the new owners got rich from mining.
