AMN - No room for misinformation in Zambia – comment by Yolanda Torrisi

Zambia was once one of Africa’s premier mining jurisdictions, especially for copper. But as the latest Fraser Institute’s Annual Survey of Mining Companies shows, the southern African country’s investment attractiveness ranking has declined in recent times and all parties must work together to move the industry forward.

Five years ago Zambia was ranked 25th in the world for 2014 in terms of attractiveness, just behind Namibia’s 21st^,rank among the 122 nations assessed by industry. Zambia’s latest ranking was a lower percentile, ranking 45th from a smaller list of 83 countries measured for 2018.

The country was ranked number three on the continent, sitting behind Botswana (32/83) and South Africa (43) but ahead of Mali (50), Namibia (60), Zimbabwe (62), Tanzania (66), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (67), Ghana (68) and Ethiopia (77).

Zambia’s investment attractiveness score for 2018 was just 63.6% in the annual survey. While a 4.26 percentage point improvement on 2017’s 59.34%, the score was well below the 75.71% attractiveness score it received for 2014.

But what’s going on? Some argue loud protest from non-government organisations is causing issues while others point to sensationalised media coverage that reports hard-line views not necessarily reflecting the majority of people or the mainstream.

One criticism of the coverage is the lack of a right-of-reply on criticism, while another is of the speakers themselves. Where are the views of moderate people taking part in communities? People supportive of local mining projects and part of wider communities involved in engagement projects that give back in so many ways?

First Quantum Minerals has noted an erosion of trust towards the company after a number of NGOs put out pamphlets critiquing the operator of the largest copper mine in Africa, Kansanshi mine in Solwezi. Criticism of mining developments is understandable, but making indefensible inaccurate claims is a whole other story.

FQM country manager General Kingsley Chinkuli argued, “It is entirely right and proper that mines are open to scrutiny and held accountable for their actions, and indeed First Quantum goes to great lengths to ensure it is transparent in its corporate operations and sustainability programs. What is more concerning are NGOs – often backed by foreign donors and with little understanding of the issues – that make spurious claims without robust evidence-based research or sound methodologies.”

Right of reply is a fundamental aspect of journalism. But in the corporate sphere, right of reply should translate to government support for correcting inaccurate reports and fighting defamatory comments. Zambia’s government must play a role, and not leave it purely to the industry to fight campaigns of misinformation.

Chinkuli has highlighted sloppy qualitative reports based upon on-the-ground interviews, sow a seed of discord, saying: “Poorly researched reports fuel unrest, distort the views of the majority of local people, and give a disproportionate profile to a small number of people. They risk destabilising the relationships we have built up with communities around our mines over a long period of time.”

I agree. Communities need genuine information — not inaccuracies and the protest equivalent of clickbait. Our efforts must continue to nurture the trust and rapport we have built up over time and fight disinformation. If reports are published with factual errors or false or misleading statements, there must be proper mechanisms in place to encourage their correction and discourage their proliferation.

Like so-called Fake News, misleading statements about the threat of mining projects and the risk of project developments hampers whole communities. Without the backing of viable sustainable projects that return value to communities, job creation becomes harder on the continent and economies suffer.

Falsified or distorted protest “information” harms both industry and society, and fighting fake information should be an important priority for public policy. Zambia’s government must step in on this front, as should other governments on the continent.

-       Yolanda Torrisi is Chairperson of The African Mining Network and comments on African mining issues and the growing global interest in the continent. Contact:yolanda@yolandatorrisi.com