China’s intervention has rescued several Zambian copper mines out of bankruptcy and helped create some 2,000 jobs, most of which were lost when copper prices slid over the biting effects of the global financial crisis, visiting Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said.
The Chinese Minister said most of the copper mines operated by private entities in Zambia collapsed in the face of the global financial crisis, which ignited an economic recession across the globe, leading most of the private copper mines in Zambia to shut down.
Several Zambia copper-producing firms were forced to retrench more than 5,000 workers after the price of the commodity fell to historically lower levels.
The price of copper dropped to a 22-year low at the London Metal Exchange in 2009, forcing most firms in Zambia to curb production levels.
‘Zambia’s privately-run copper mines have closed down due to the economic crisis, only the one operated by China is still operating,’ Minister Chen told a news conference in Addis Ababa, Monday.
Zambian Mines Minister Maxwell Mwale announced late in 2009, the country had embarked on the process of selling several copper mines to enable some of the ones which could resume production to do so.
Chinese officials said the Zambian President Rupiah Banda also formally asked China to facilitate its companies to take stakes in the bankrupt copper mines in the face of the global financial crisis.
The Chinese Minister, who addressed journalists on the positive role that China’s investment in Africa’s mineral-rich countries had achieved, also dismissed suggestions that China was a neo-colonialist.
The Minister is visiting Africa and Middle East.
In his five-nation tour, covering Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the Chinese official is expected to explore more constructive ways in which China can engage with the developing countries in implementing China’s development agenda.
Source: Lusaka Times
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