By Ceaser Siwale $11 million spent. 11 minutes in space. But at what expense? This week, the first-ever commercial spaceflight crew made up entirely of women soared into space.The media called it “historic.”Socials called it “feminist.”Headlines called it a “win for women.”But was it really? This was the crew: • Lauren Sánchez – Jeff Bezos’ fiancée • […]
Men Are Covers, Women Are Books…Modern Masculinity Is Judged And Slotted Into Categories We Didn’t Sign Up For.
The moment you take your first breath of ZED’s air and a mid-wife says, “It’s a boy!” you know you’re in for a lifetime of expectation. Because being a Zambian man is an indictment of how you’ll probably repeat or remix the mistakes of your father, presidents, brother or friends. As a man, you will […]
From Raw Materials to African-Made: How Africa Can Own Its Resource Value Chain
By Savior Mwambwa Summary: In this short think-piece, I examine how African nations can transform exploitative resource extraction patterns into sustainable economic development. Drawing from my forthcoming research paper, I explore how strategic state involvement, regional integration through AfCFTA, and inclusive governance models can help Africa move beyond raw material exports toward manufacturing and value addition. […]
Do you have a loose 5k?
You’ll be at home on a Friday evening with your family or alone. You receive a phone call from your friend. In the background, inebriated baddies are singing along to some promiscuity-inducing hit song and your friend screams into your ear, “Boi, do you have a loose five thousand? Payable month end!” Zambians have been […]
Copper Supply and Financing Challenges in the face of increased Demand – There is No Transition Without Africa (so where is the Capital?)
By Tshepo Magagane, Mine Finance Senior Africa is blessed with an abundance of base metals including Copper across the Central African Copperbelt (Zambia, DRC), Kalahari Copperbelt (Botswana, Namibia), Kaoko Copperbelt (Namibia, Angola). Prospective tenements are available; however, they lack capital to risk-unlock into Feasible Projects. There are no new Pre-Feasibility Stage projects, and capital is required to […]
A Reset Gone Awry
Observations By Ceaser Siwale The implementation of sweeping tariff policies under President Donald Trump’s administration has sparked significant debate among economists, business leaders, and global trading partners. Initially intended as a strategic reset to address longstanding trade imbalances and reinvigorate domestic industries, the approach has generated unintended economic consequences, raising concerns about its effectiveness and […]
There Are No Handouts
One of the toughest places for a man to navigate his prejudices and masculinity is right after he leaves the relative comfort of secondary school. This is when he realizes that academically, he will eventually come good but socially, he will never receive pizza on a Friday night and a new iPhone just because he’s […]
Build v Buy Debate in Mining
By Tshepo Magagane The most value-adding approach is to find and build – FQM started out by producing 2,000t pa and now, just in Zambia, they are about to hit 500,000t pa! Khoemacau was taken over for USD35m in distress (went into it during commissioning) and was sold for USD2.0Bn! The thing about buying a […]
Friedland on the West’s challenges
Observations By Tshepo Magagane Unfortunately, China has cornered most of the global market. And Friedland, who has been connected to China since the ‘90s, says it’s about 30 years ahead of us. And for processing of some minerals, there may be no catching up, given the small and specialized quantities involved. Friedland is building a […]
Zambia & SADC – Economic Freedom Index 2025
Opinion and Observations By Ceaser Siwale The Economic Freedom Index (EFI) is an annual ranking published by The Heritage Foundation that assesses the economic freedom of countries worldwide. The index measures the degree to which individuals and businesses can freely operate without undue restraint. Countries are scored across 12 indicators grouped into four broad pillars: Rule of Law, Government Size, Regulatory Efficiency, […]