Investment Forum: Zambia Unlocking Potential With Reforms, Talent and Diaspora Engagement

Like copper undergoing refinement, Zambia is in the midst of a transformation to burnish its credentials as an investment hub for southern Africa. 

Unlocking opportunity was the focus of an innovation and investment roadshow that targeted Atlanta and other U.S. cities in September, with Ambassador Chibamba Kanyama making his 10th visit to the city in recent years. 

He first came in 1993 as a television journalist and admired its infrastructure and connectivity. But as ambassador 30 years later, he observed a shared entrepreneurial spirit. 

“When I came back here, I found warmth. There’s a chemistry,” he said during a forum at the Buckhead Club. “(Atlantans) understand Africa. They have an interest in Africa. It’s easier to sell our story here.” 

Copper, its main export, exemplifies Zambia’s path to development — using outside investment to tap into a huge pool of unrealized wealth.

But learning from its extractive past, Zambia and other African nations are enacting new paradigms of partnership that Mr. Kanyama says require a resolute look in the mirror: Governments seeking to attract investment must consider the “valid points” that foreign firms raise about corruption, transparency and governance. Four jailed former government ministers on corruption charges prove Zambia’s seriousness, but more needs to be done, he conceded. 

“This current government is following the law, ensuring that when you engage with us, you rest assured that your investment is secure,” adding later: “In short, Zambia is building trust because investment requires confidence. Now, we’re turning risks into opportunities.” 

“In short, Zambia is building trust because investment requires confidence. Now, we’re turning risks into opportunities.” 

Ambassador Chibamba kanyama

KoBold Metals, based in Silicon Valley, is embracing a new approach to the traditional sector. Chief Legal Officer Sandy Alexander said he was sitting in the place of the audience two years ago, but KoBold — and its venture  backers — was persuaded to take the plunge, putting $2 billion into a country whose government has provided “practical, fast, honest leadership.” 

“And our story is that our investments in Zambia have been the most successful across our entire global portfolio,” Mr. Alexander said. 

Talent and Capacity-Building

Zambian talent has been a key part of that story, in part because of the government’s keen focus on capacity-building to avoid the mistakes of the past. But also because its university system has been up to the task, aided in a small way by some scholarships KoBold has funded to send Zambian students to Stanford University. 

The Lusaka operation has grown from three people in one room to a thriving enterprise with hundreds of employees. 

“We are on a path to having a mine that will have thousands of people in high-paying jobs for a generation. That’s something we all feel so excited about,” Mr. Alexander said, earning one of many rounds of applause he received from the audience. 

Adding to the optimism is that KoBold has hired Mfikeyi Makayi, the first female CEO of a Zambian mining company, a development Mr. Alexander said was too long in coming but stands as a testament to Zambia’s talent base. 

“I run a global business, but I start my day with Zambia because our chief mining engineer for the company worldwide is in Zambia. Our CEO for all of Africa is in Zambia. At 6:30 this morning from my hotel before I came over here, I started my day with my meetings with colleagues in Zambia.”

A Copper Opportunity 

Putting talent, governance and policy together, Zambia and other resource-rich African countries have a huge opportunity to rectify the imbalances of past development cycles, said Obinna Onuchukwu, vice president of business development for Busara Advisors, an Africa-focused strategic advisory firm with offices in Washington and Atlanta. 

With data centers booming amid an artificial intelligence explosion, demand for electricity and batteries is skyrocketing, putting Zambia in a position to reap the huge benefits as utilities scramble for greater access to raw materials. 

“All the investment in the last hundred years in their infrastructure is not equivalent to what they need to make over the next five years,” said Mr. Onuchukwu, who until recently served as a vice president at GE Vernova. 

But African countries are wising up and seeking an “equal playing field” that will ensure that investments bring a return in dignity as well as dollars. 

“If these things are refined and purified in our countries, we can grow jobs,” said Mr. Onuchukwu, who hails originally from Nigeria. 

So far, speakers said, that spirit is underpinning the Lobito Corridor, a century-old railway running through Angola being refurbished and extended to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia, with U.S. backing, largely for the export of minerals key to electrification of vehicles and batteries. Started under the Biden administration, Zambia was bracing for a pullback under President Donald Trump, but so far he has signaled continued support, the ambassador said. 

The corridor, largely funded by the Africa Finance Corporation in Nigeria, is also attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in investment from European and African utilities. 

“There is space for everyone,” Mr. Kanyama said. “It’s not just a railway line, it’s an ecosystem that requires your participation.” 

Mr. Alexander seconded the notion, noting that when KoBold brought some of the largest American institutional investors and venture capital funds to see the prospects in person, they were impressed by the way it layers interests for mutual benefit. They responded by investing another half-billion dollars into KoBold. 

“So many important players have a stake in this project,” Mr. Alexander said. “We are actually truly in it together, and that’s great.” 

Beyond Minerals to Fintech and Services

That goes for collaboration among southern African nations as well, said Neil Diamond, president of the South African Chamber of Commerce of the USA. 

Zambia, which is landlocked, relies on logistical connectivity through South Africa and other nations that has only grown in recent years. 

“It’s important for us to maintain a posture where what benefits one in the (Southern African Development Cooperation) region will benefit all,” Mr. Diamond said, reminding the room that agriculture, textiles and technology can help build opportunity from the ground up.

He cited the case of Zambian honey that has made an appearance in U.S. supermarkets thanks to the ambassador’s efforts, and the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the long-time preferential tariff regime that expired after 25 years in September.

“When an investment is made in Zambia or trade with Zambia on a small and medium-sized business level, you’re actually contributing to the overall well-being of a society, of a community,” Mr. Diamond said. 

Role of the Diaspora, Universities

For that reason, Mr. Kanyama was eager to tap into the success of the Zambian and broader African diaspora, many of whom have attained prominent positions abroad and access to resources that may help their home country, especially in industries like fintech, where the government has taken a special interest. 

Flutterwave, he noted, is one of few African startup unicorns, largely because they attracted outside funding, but Mr. Kanyama envisions Zambians fueling future such endeavors, if they can maintain a homeward focus even as they live abroad. 

“We want to take advantage goof your position, your linkages, your networks, to develop your country back home,” he said. 

He has an ally in Kennesaw State University, which sponsored the program at the Buckhead Club and later welcomed the ambassador to the university for a visit to see how efforts to boost the KSU curriculum through the Georgia Fintech Academy could also be applied to Zambia. 

KSU is in it for the long haul, having attracted grants from alumni Tom and Barbara Hughes for Zambia and Africa-focused programming as well as student and faculty exchanges.  

“2027 will be our 45th year of our annual country study program. Every year, we focus on our country and we engage our students, the faculty and community to learn, to create, to celebrate that country. And in 2027, it will be the year of Zambia.” 

John Woodward of JW Woodward Partners, formerly of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, moderated the discussion with timely insight, given his recent return from Zambia, where he met with members of the Zambian Development Agency, who were kept from joining the ambassador due to new U.S. visa restrictions.