MINING activities in Africa has also attracted the scramble for economic opportunities offered by the continent to the outside world.
In many parts of Africa, mines are operated by foreigners with labour-intensive equipment used in the exploration and mining of minerals.
The minerals are later exported or shipped out of the continent to processing plants after which they are exported back to Africa as finished products.
Due to high profit margins associated with extraction of minerals, most African Governments have designed policies to ensure locals benefitted from returns realised from mining activities.
In some African countries, including those located in the southern tip of the continent have embraced policies and systems to ensure the locals in host countries take part in minting the profits coming from mining activities, invariably developing their welfare.
The mineral industry of most African countries — which Zambia needs — has positively dominated the national economies for many years.
In the case of Botswana, since the early 1990s, mining in that country continued to contribute to the prosperity of the national economy of that country.
The story is no different with Namibia which has It is not mistake to hear Copperbelt minister Bowman Lusambo that the Mines and Commerce ministries will conduct a mine investment audit to ascertain the levels of investment made by all the mining firms in the province.
This will translate into the country’s minerals helping to shape the national economy resulting in improved the lives Zambians.
Failure by some investors to direct substantial investment by remitting the correct profits will not benefit the locals from the foreign revenue earned through the mining activities.
Some mines are also in the perpetual habit to exploit workers and denying them to supply mine materials.
According to Mines minister Christopher Yaluma, the Mineral Royalty Tax introduced last year was expected to help Government achieve its mining revenue targets.
There are many other dimensions to the mining industry which are crucial if Zambia is to maximise the benefits from its mineral wealth, but which are beyond the scope of this guide.
These include: An appropriate enabling environment for investment in mining, increasing non-tax government revenue, such as dividend, among others.
The minister said he had received complaints on mining firms not putting in the real investment but were concentrating on operating on slimes and dumpsites.
So, the need to conduct a mine investment audit for all the mining companies was long overdue considering that some mining firms have failed to investment even in communities where they operate to add value to society.
In other countries, mines enter into agreements with Governments to ensure that the profits from mining activities were also directed to build schools, recreational facilities, improving housing units and building of economic infrastructures such as bridges, schools, roads, among others.
In Botswana, Mining accounts for more than 38 per cent of Botswana’s real Gross Domestic Product  (GDP), and more than 50 per cent of Government revenues, which are derived from mining and mineral-processing activity.
In 2005, for instance, the nominal value of minerals produced in Botswana exceeded that of 2004 by about 20 per cent in terms of the United States (U.S.) dollar.
“We are aware that some mining companies have not done the real investment. Some of them are not declaring the true profits while others are operating illegally.”
Lessons from other mining countries show that mining firms failing to comply with laws of the land should not be entertained because they were a negative to the development process of the country.
There is every need for all mining companies to help Government to foster sustainable national development.
Mr Lusambo said he wanted the mining firms to add value to the province and for the investment benefit the local people.
The minister also said that mining companies should give contracts to local suppliers as opposed to giving foreigners.
More than that, the Association of Mine Suppliers and Contractors (AMSC) says although a lot of investment appeared to have gone into the mining sector in recent years, it had not had the anticipated impact on the local communities.
AMSC president Augustine Mubanga said this was because many local mine suppliers and contractors had been denied the chance to benefit from the mine investment for a long time.
This is why Mr Lusambo is disappointed and shocked that some mining firms still favoured foreign, expertise, suppliers and contractors as opposed to Zambian local workers and companies.
All these issues raised can be addressed through implementation of laws governing the mining sector, which restrict mining firms not to favour foreign expertise, suppliers and contractors at the expense of Zambian local workers and companies.
Mine Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ) president Nkole Chishimba agrees that investment audit was the only way of ascertaining the actual value that Zambia was gaining from mining activities.
Mr Chishimba knows that Zambia will always depend, at the moment, on minerals to score success and that it was imperative for Government to ascertain levels of mine investment and how it was benefiting the nation and the local people.
“We welcome the move to conduct mine investment audit and we feel it has been long overdue. For you to know the actual value of your minerals there is need for a benchmark,” he said.
On the tip, Government does not need mining companies that are operating without thinking of empowering the local people.
Why? Investment is about development and so it should benefit both.
Some of the teething challenges facing the mining sector especially in the areas of adding value to communities where they are conducting business is awful to ignore and at another level is a story demonstrating the need for locals and investors to live like species that thrive on cooperation.
It is difficult to compromise the need for most of our African Governments to fail to design policies to ensure locals benefit from returns realised from mining activities.