Zambia's copper industry, which only last year still boasted a rosy future, seems to be staggering towards a rather gloomier end. A group of worried bystanders―the World Bank, the Zambian government, private investors, the mine workers and their families-are looking on, wringing their hands. Some 15,000 jobs and Zambia's biggest industry are threatened by the mines' possible closure. What has gone wrong? Consider first the invisible hand of the market. Zambia's copper is too expensive. Two years ago, when the mines were privatised, it cost 100 cents to dig out every pound of copper. But the world price at the time was just 84 cents. Last year, efficiency improved and the Konkola Copper Mines (KCM, the country's largest) turned out a pound of copper for 85 cents. But that, sadly, was still well over the market price, which had by then fallen to 75 cents (see chart on next page).
展开▼
