Copper campaign in Zambia ensures mining revenues are invested in the communities where copper is being extracted.
Zambia is the world’s seventh-largest copper-producing nation. One of its most mineral-rich regions—on the border between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo—is known as the “Copperbelt.” Despite the industry’s massive footprint in the country, its operations reflect its roots in colonial rule, with much of the revenue residing outside Zambia. Yet all of the environmental impacts of mining are endured by the people of the Copperbelt region.
In 2020, several civil organizations partnering on the Kulinganiza (Even it Up) project, an ongoing Oxfam effort to eliminate inequality in Zambia, created the Copper for Development campaign. Through radio programs, social media, and meetings with local and national government leaders, the alliance aimed to strengthen citizen participation in political processes, enhance transparency, and influence government policies to redistribute revenues to invest in sectors, like education, that would benefit Zambia’s population.
The Copper for Development campaign also held indabas, or community gatherings, bringing together a cross-section of citizens to have conversations about the socioeconomic state of the country. The campaign also enabled high-level meetings between traditional leaders and government authorities, debates with parliamentary candidates, and town halls.
Mando Chiundaponde, coordinator of Extractives Industry for Oxfam in Zambia, describes the campaign as a “social accountability movement.” He added, “We are able now to see people asking ... how [extractive industries] could contribute to the welfare of the people, and why this hasn’t been the case, since Zambia has been extracting copper for the last 100 years.” The efforts are paying off.
“The mining [revenues] are helping in the development of the school, putting up infrastructure that will help in [the] education sector and donating learning materials such as books and desks,” said Kaili Clara, a secondary school teacher in Solwezi.
In October 2021, the Copper for Development campaign hit a major milestone: the Zambian government committed to reinstating the Mining Revenue Sharing Mechanism clause into the Mines and Mineral Development Act, which would mandate that subnational royalties from mining activities are transferred to host communities where mining takes place, with clear provisions on implementation.