Zambian Govt Working to Save Mines: Be Cautious

The global financial crisis has not spared Zambia. The effects of the crisis have had ripple effects and particularly crippling to the mining sector. As a consequent, many jobs have been lost due to closures and scale-down of operations.  In the midst of the crisis, the government has stepped to the plate to find ways and means of preventing all the mines from closing and to have some of the closed ones to re-open. It can be a helpless situation but it is gratifying to see government make every effort to ensure businesses remain afloat in spite of the crisis. Therefore, the Zambian government deserves commendation for its efforts to keep the economy running.

It's no mean achievement for the government to get new Chinese investors for the closed mines in short order.  However, the government must be caution in putting all its eggs in the Chinese investor's basket. The reason is that Chinese investors are well known for their disregard of Zambia's labour laws and relations. Recently, Zambians have had some rude awakenings regarding the mistreatment they have been receiving from their Chinese employers. Therefore, in Zambia, Chinese investments will be meaningless if these investors continue to treated Zambians working for them with disdain and pay them slave wages. These investors must learn to respect Zambia's labour laws and desist from being overly arrogant. Although they are helping in creating cheap jobs, they need to appreciate that they are not above the law. If the current law is weak, there is need to give it more teeth to deal effectively with errant investors like the Chinese and any other investors.