BREAKING NEWS: Opinion | Urban Planning is Key to Inclusive Mining in Zambia and the DRC Both countries have a chance to turn mining boomtowns into diversified cities Global demand for clean energy is kicking off another commodity boom in Central Africa. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia possess more than 70% of the world’s cobalt and 11% of its copper supply — minerals integral to the production of solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies. If the DRC and Zambia hope to leverage their bounty of “green gold” into sustainable, inclusive, and long-term industrialisation, effective urban development is crucial. When resource-rich economies rely too heavily on exporting commodities, they shift labour and capital away from more productive industries, such as manufacturing and agriculture, to low-growth resource extraction. Elite landowners, their foreign concessionaires and well-connected politicians capture most of the benefits, while the public only receives a short-lived income and employment boost. Once the raw resources are exhausted, exporting countries are left with a less productive economy with fewer options for newly unemployed low-skilled workers and an inflated exchange rate that makes it difficult to export other goods. Economists call this phenomenon the ‘Dutch disease’, and there are already concerns that the new mining boom is leading Zambia and the DRC down the same path. #news #business #economy