- Zambia wants to triple copper production — the metal behind solar panels, EV’s, wind turbines and AI data centres. Demand has never been higher.
- Billions of dollars in foreign money is flowing into Zambia, much of it from China, Canada and the U.S.
- Zambia has been here before. Every previous boom ended without leaving much wealth behind. Economists call it the “resource curse.”
- Radio Workshop spent a week in Kitwe, in the heart of the Copperbelt, talking to young Zambians who are placing their bets on the latest copper boom.
When you arrive in Kitwe, Zambia, signs of the copper boom are everywhere. Hotel billboards promise “copper-ful” hospitality. Trucks lumber through the streets, carrying mining equipment and copper.
And at Copperbelt University, the number of students studying mining has quadrupled in five years. The campus buzzes with students in rugged mining boots and reflective jackets.
One of them is Rose Mpanza, a final-year engineering student who interns at one of Zambia’s deepest copper shafts. Some of her colleagues pray on the way down the shaft. But they go to work anyway. For her and many young Zambians, mining is a path to escape poverty.
“We are here because we believe that through mining, we are going to become rich. Not just me, but Zambia is going to become rich.” – Rose Mpanza, student
Radio Workshop’s Editorial Director Lesedi Mogoatlhe says, “Generations of Zambians were told that copper would make them rich, but Zambia remains one of the poorest places in the world. Our team went to Kitwe to ask a hard question: why will the copper boom be different this time? That’s the story we wanted to tell.”
Senior Producer Dhashen Moodley added, “We were lucky to report this story with Luckson Mwale, a journalist from the Copperbelt region. He was also our guide and translator in Kitwe. Without him and producer Naomi Grewan, this story wouldn’t have been possible.”
Copper Town opens with a tour of Copperbelt University, where mining students are excited about the booming copper industry. Environmental engineering student Jobrin Nyirenda shows the team around. He points to chairs stamped “Donated by the People’s Republic of China,” a library funded by the U.S. Embassy, and the wildlife park donated by a mining company. With global demand for copper surging, foreign money is visible across campus.
Inside the final-year mining classroom, the walls are lined with dusty dioramas donated by the mining industry in the 1980s. In an increasingly high-tech sector the classroom struggles to reflect a modern workplace. And the students know it. But they’re not worried. According to their professor, nearly all of them will be hired within a year or two.
“One thing about lacking resources is that it makes you creative. You can do a lot with a little.” – Mambwe Msonda, student
Outside campus, the story gets complicated. In Wusakile township, young men mine copper without permits in the shadow of Black Mountain, a 20-million-ton pile of mine waste that has towered over Kitwe for nearly a century. The president has promised to legalize their work. But they told us they don’t know a single person who has received a permit.
In February last year, a tailings dam spilled millions of liters of acidic waste into the Kafue River. Kitwe’s water authority shut off supply to the entire city — almost 700,000 people — for close to a week. One mother we spoke to still won’t drink her tap water.
Civil society advocates and environmental engineers in the episode say the same thing: strong laws exist on paper, but without transparency and accountability, Zambia’s people and environment will keep paying the price.
“Many of our people are still struggling to access quality, reliable, affordable medical care. We can do better. We can do differently.” – Nsama Chikwanka, Publish What You Pay
As students at the Copperbelt University prepare for a rapidly changing industry, Zambia steps into a new copper boom filled with hope and hazards. The lessons of the past weigh heavily — will this generation break the resource curse? The young people in Copper Town are determined to make it happen.
Thanks to Luckson Mwale and Flava FM, Publish What You Pay Zambia, Good Governance Africa, Southern Transitions, and Copperbelt University for being a part of the making of this story. This episode is supported by the UMI Fund, DW Akademie, the ClimateWorks Foundation, the Ford Foundation and Fondation Chanel.
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