The second largest copper producer on the African continent, Zambia continues to perform well despite the coronvairus health crisis. On Thursday 9 July, the Ministry of Mines announced that the country’s copper production reached 342,734 tonnes in the first five months of this year, an increase of 3.85% compared to the same period in 2019 (330,024 tonnes). Better still, according to the Zambian authorities, copper production is expected to continue to grow in the third and fourth quarters, due to higher prices linked to factors such as the growing production of electric vehicles, which depend on copper. This optimistic projection, if realised, will further reinforce the strategic importance of copper in the Zambian economy: revenues from ore mining account for 70% of the country’s export earnings.