At the recent SAIMC Zambian branch annual banquet at Kitwe’s Edinburgh Hotel, keynote speaker Oratile Sematle (then-President of the SAIMC) said with more investment in technologies, countries like Zambia should not be shipping out raw copper, but adding a beneficiation process.
Oratile went on to say: “People think that when we automate, jobs will be lost, but there will be a chain reaction in other areas when we automate the production of goods and services. We should not depend on foreign products, but create our own as African countries.”
Oratile said lack of collaboration between engineers and policymakers was the reason Africa was lagging behind in deploying home-grown technologies.
“We need to address the lack of communication between politicians and industry. There is a need to add value to copper through beneficiation, rather than just exporting the raw material,” he added.
He called on African countries to prepare for a knowledge generation and develop technologies that could be replicated in other destinations.
Dignitaries and committee members attending the banquet: Minister of Transport & Communications, Honourable Mr Brian Mushiba (sixth from left); Branch Chairman, Zambia, Enock Shikabeta, (fifth from left) and then-President of the SAIMC, Oratile Samatle (fifth from right).
The banquet was attended by representatives from various industries where the Zambian chapter draws its membership.
SAIMC Zambia chapter President Enoch Shikabeta said the organisation would continue working with government to create a knowledge-based economy.
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