Hichilema Presses Vedanta To Fast-Track Power Investment As Copper Push Continues

President Hakainde Hichilema has urged Vedanta Resources Holdings Limited to accelerate its plans to invest in power generation, tying the request directly to Government’s target of producing 10,000 megawatts of electricity under the second-term Grow Zambia Agenda. The…

President Hakainde Hichilema has urged Vedanta Resources Holdings Limited to accelerate its plans to invest in power generation, tying the request directly to Government’s target of producing 10,000 megawatts of electricity under the second-term Grow Zambia Agenda.

The President made the call during a meeting with Vedanta’s Head of Strategy and Growth, Pushpender Singla, at Community House in Lusaka. Discussions covered further expansion and investment at Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), along with the company’s progress toward its copper production goals.

“We received a report on their progress and further plans to take production towards 500,000 metric tonnes of copper production, adding considerably to our three million metric tonnes target,” Mr Hichilema said. “We encouraged Vedanta to expedite their plans to also invest in power generation to support their mining operations and contribute to our 10 gigawatt target.”

Vedanta and CopperTech Metals confirmed they would back the President’s vision for a thriving and inclusive mining sector. The two firms marked the meeting by presenting the Head of State with a commemorative copper plaque, congratulating him on his re-election and inauguration.

Mr Singla said the companies remain committed to the country’s growth story. “KCM and CopperTech Metals remain committed to partners in Zambia’s growth,” he said. “We congratulate President Hichilema and pledge our full support towards realising the vision for a thriving, inclusive mining sector.”

A statement issued by KCM’s corporate affairs department said the inscription on the plaque highlighted the President’s vision for the mining sector, particularly the national target of producing three million tonnes of copper annually. It also referenced the value of jobs, community and shared prosperity that the company said underpins its partnership with Government.

The engagement forms part of a broader set of production ambitions commonly referred to as the 10-10-5-3-3-1-1-1 targets: 10 million tonnes of maize, 10,000 megawatts of electricity, five million tourists annually, three million tonnes each of copper and soya beans, one million tonnes each of wheat and sugar, and a US$1 billion beef export industry.

Government has said successful delivery of the agenda could create more than two million new jobs and raise living standards nationally. The planned expansion of KCM’s output, paired with new investment in power generation, is expected to support both the mining sector and wider efforts to grow the economy.

Under the agenda, Government is seeking to more than double the size of the national economy, targeting annual economic value beyond US$65 billion. Officials say the strategy is designed to move the country from a stabilisation phase into one focused on expansion, job creation and higher household incomes.

Economist Trevor Hambayi said the Grow Zambia Agenda has the potential to support local businesses and contribute meaningfully to economic development, but cautioned that production growth alone will not be enough. He called for a US$10 billion increase in non-traditional exports to help stabilise the exchange rate, arguing that Zambia needs to move beyond reliance on traditional exports and build sectors capable of generating foreign exchange through value addition.

Republican Progressive Party president and UPND Alliance spokesperson Leslie Chikuse said continuity of the ruling party’s programmes would give citizens confidence in the country’s economic direction. He described the Grow Zambia language as evidence of a shift from stabilisation to growth, pointing to interest rates easing from 6.3 percent in 2021 to 6.2 percent currently, alongside a more stable exchange rate and stronger GDP performance.

“These are tangible results that citizens can touch and see,” Mr Chikuse said, adding that the enactment of free education into law stood as further proof of progress delivered during the first term.

For KCM and Vedanta, the immediate task remains translating the President’s request into concrete power and copper investment. Both companies have signalled continued alignment with the national targets, though the scale of new generation capacity required, and the timeline for delivering it, has yet to be detailed publicly.

The outcome of that investment will matter well beyond the mining sector. With electricity generation identified as a precondition for nearly every other target in the Grow Zambia Agenda, the pace at which Vedanta and other mining houses move on power will shape how quickly Government can point to progress on its wider economic promises.