Copper futures surged to a record high, driving revenues for African producers in particular.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, which has tripled output in the last decade to become the world’s second-largest copper supplier after Chile, has seen its currency leap 28% against the dollar over the last year, while Zambia, also racing to boost copper mining, saw similar gains.
Copper is vital for new technologies, from data centers to electric vehicles, and supply growth is slow, because opening mines can take decades. Copper is key to African growth, Business Insider Africa reported, but the continent faces a familiar, and regularly unmet, challenge of ensuring that populations share the proceeds.
