Tue, 12 Sep 2017 10:53:23 +0000
By Chite Mtonga
Government should ensure that the rise in copper prices benefit poor Zambians, Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) executive director Patrick Nshindano has said.
Mr Nshindano said that the copper prices which have reached their highest in three years, trading at $6, 920 per tonne at the London Metal Exchange should have a positive impact on the lives of the ordinary citizens.
He said that the rise should result in the improvement of lives for the majority of Zambians who are living in poverty.
Mr Nshindano complained that the current rise in copper prices had very little impact on the lives of most citizens because proceeds made from Zambian copper sales were invested in other countries.
He said that money that comes back to Zambia was mainly meant for operational costs in mines.
“The problem we have is that we do not own these mines so what happens is that the money goes to the mother companies of these mines which of course are foreign countries,
“ And what comes back to Zambia is just money for operational costs, yes we might get some foreign exchange here and there but the real money stays in foreign countries”, he said.
Mr Nshindano said that Government should have policies that will compel mining companies to keep money from copper in Zambia.
