The Daily IIJ

By NEWTON SIBANDA LUSAKA, Zambia-CHRISTINE MULENGA has lived in Mufulira’s sprawling kanoyo township, on the fringes of MufuliraMine since 1998. She has not seen the economic benefits of the mining activities in her vicinity, but can attest to the toll it has taken on both her health and living environment.

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By NEWTON SIBANDA MINERALS in the ground represent potential wealth. And luckily, Africa is blessed with all kinds of ores, gems and fuels locked away, waiting to be liberated. The continental mass is a treasury of bauxite, uranium, gold, platinum, cobalt, diamonds, chromium, manganese, coal, and phosphates, to name but a few. So it is [...]

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December 14, 2011 FROM Newton Sibanda in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia A major report on all aspects of mining in Africa will be launched on the sidelines of the on going Conference of Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources Development in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa tomorrow. Titled ‘Minerals and Africa’s Development, the report was compiled by [...]

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FROM Newton Sibanda in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia CITIZENS for a Better Environment (CBE) executive director Peter Sinkamba says African governments need to protect communities who resort to litigation against mining firms by making it mandatory for governmentts to indemnify them against costs if they lost their cases in court. “We also need to develop quantum [...]

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FROM Newton Sibanda in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia THE second African Union Conference of ministers Responsible for minerals development opened yesterday with a clarion call for the continent to ensure that it achieves economic development from its mineral wealth. African Union Commission (AUC) Director for Trade and Industry Jean Noel Francois was the first to give [...]

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November 19, 2011 By NEWTON SIBANDA LUSAKA, Zambia-IN a landmark judgment, the Lusaka High Court has ordered Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) to pay K10billion (US$2million) to 2000 Chingola residents on Zambia’s Copperbelt for polluting the Mushishima river. The Mushishima is a tributary of the Kafue River, which accounts for about 40 percent of Zambia’s domestic [...]

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December 3, 2011 By NEWTON SIBANDA LUSAKA, Zambia- GERMANY has given Zambia K592 billion (Euro 87.1 million) as continued financial support to programmes aimed at improving water supply and sanitation, poverty reduction and decentralization of the local government system. Out of the total amount, K219.6 billion will go towards improving water supply and sanitation while [...]

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November 6, 2011 By NEWTON SIBANDA LUSAKA, Zambia-DIRECTOR of the African Water Facility at the African Development Bank (AfDB) Sering Jallow says the bank has decided to increase its water sector investments in rural areas because that is key to achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). “Until 2003, more than 80 percent of the [...]

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October 28, 2011 FROM Newton Sibanda in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia AFRICAN Development Bank (AfDB) regional director for East Africa, Gabriel Negatu says Africa needs to address the way it exploits its abundant natural resources to avoid a situation where they become a ‘resource curse.’ Speaking at the closure of the fourth African Economic Conference in [...]

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October 28, 2011 FROM Newton Sibanda in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia A SENIOR African Development Bank (AfDB) official says the fundamental causes of revolution in North Africa can also be found in sub-Saharan Africa. Speaking at the close of the four day African Economic Conference in the Ethiopian capital addis Ababa yesterday, AfDB regional director for [...]

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