KELVIN MBEWE, Lusaka
AN ECONOMIST, Noel Nkoma, has expressed optimism that the rise in copper prices will restore investor confidence in the mining sector.
Betternow Finance Company managing director Noel Nkoma said this in an interview yesterday.
“The investment that was held back due to uncertainty in the mining sector will be restored as a result of the rise in copper prices. The rise in copper prices also mean that operations in the mining sector will be sustained,” he said.
Mr Nkoma said if the copper prices continue to rise, victims of job cuts in the mining sector will have new job opportunities.
“The mines will now operate above break-even point which means that even those mines that are under care and maintenance will be back to production and re-employ those miners that were laid off,” he said.
He said copper prices are normally determined by the demand for the commodity by China.
And Mine Workers Union (MUZ) president Chishimba Nkole said the rise in copper prices was a good development and he hopes that the trend would continue.
The price of copper on the global market, which had in recent months dropped to record lows and put copper-driven economies such as Zambia under pressure, last Friday made a significant jump-trading at US$5,027.The price of copper on the London Metal Exchange surged by 3.5 percent to close at US$5,027 a ton after touching US$5,059, its highest since November last year.