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United Prosperous and Peaceful Zambia (UPPZ) leader, Charles Chanda, has called for the nationalisation of Zambia’s gemstone sector, arguing that 100 percent local control would keep billions of Kwacha in national hands instead of foreign firms.
Chanda said Zambia previously barred foreigners from the emeralds area, which he described as a period when the state had full control over emeralds and other gemstones.
Speaking on the country’s mineral policy in Lusaka in an intetview with Zambia Monitor, Chanda said that level of control meant all revenue from the sector remained domestic and could be directed to national development priorities without external leakages.
He linked the loss of that control to current outcomes in mining, saying policy changes had opened the sector to foreign ownership and reduced Zambia’s direct benefit.
“Are you aware that no foreigner was allowed in the Emeralds area? No foreigner. Meaning that we had hundred percent control of our Emeralds mines,” Chanda stated.
He used a revenue example to illustrate potential scale, saying 244 kilograms of emeralds could fund Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA) and that producing one tonne would make similar commitments easy under an alliance with government.
“But right now, all the Emeralds mines are in foreign hands. So the problem has had to do with policy,” Chanda said.
Chanda maintained that the core challenge was policy design rather than the resource base.
He described gemstone mining as the anchor of Zambia’s resource economy, saying a single high-yielding mine could carry significant fiscal weight if proceeds were retained locally.
The UPPZ leader stressed that nationalisation would be pursued as a deliberate policy shift, not as a reactionary move, to ensure consistent benefit from the sector over time.
He urged the government and partners to prioritise legislation and enforcement that returned gemstone assets to national control, arguing that was the fastest route to converting mineral wealth into public value.
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