As Zambia gears up for the presentation […]

As Zambia gears up for the presentation of the 2027 national budget, the President of the Association of Zambian Women in Mining (AZWIM), Namakau Kaingu, has urged the government to translate years of promises into concrete actions that address the longstanding challenges faced by women in the small-scale mining sector.

In an interview with the Zambian Business Times (ZBT), Kaingu outlined her top three expectations from the upcoming budget, with a strong focus on empowering women miners.
Kaingu emphasized that, despite repeated submissions and advocacy stretching back decades, the core challenges for women in mining remain unaddressed, particularly access to equipment and working capital. “For almost 40 years, we have been talking about the same challenges. What we’ve been seeing is talk and no implementation,” she said.

She called on the Minister of Finance and National Planning to ensure that the budget includes dedicated funds for the provision of mining equipment and financial support tailored to women, artisan, and small-scale miners.

Kaingu noted that while technical training has improved through the Ministry of Mines, the lack of machinery and capital continues to undermine the sector, leaving many entrepreneurs unable to fully utilize their licenses and resulting in increased poverty and loss of direction in the mining communities.

Kaingu also stressed the importance of affirmative action, highlighting the transparency and positive impact women have brought to the sector. “We are not men, we are women, and our participation has made a difference. The government needs to recognize this through targeted support,” she stated.

Amid government ambitions to increase copper production to 1 million metric tons by 2026 and 3 million by 2031, Kaingu argued that with proper support, small-scale and women miners could make significant contributions to these targets, but warned that continued neglect might drive some back into illegal mining as a means of survival.

“We are part of the nation and we need to be assisted. If supported, women and small-scale miners can help the country achieve, even surpass, its production targets,” Kaingu concluded.

By Tyndale Muchiya

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