The Global Copper Race Heats Up: India Moves into Zambia’s Mining Sector

Much like neighboring China has been doing for decades, India is now making inroads into the African continent to mine copper reserves, among other mineral assets. It is a move that is sure to shake up the already-competitive international copper market, where multiple nations continue to show significantly increased interest in Africa.

Staring in the face of near-stagnant copper production, the Government of India recently announced it had acquired greenfield land in Zambia’s northwest province with plans to explore copper and cobalt. According to a report in the Indian Express, India’s mines ministry was also actively in talks with other African nations like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Mozambique for similar exploration deals.

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India’s Partnership with Saudi Arabia

A copper mine belonging to the India-listed Vedanta Group lies quite close to the 9000-square kilometer plot India recently signed up to explore in Zambia. In late 2024, Vedanta Copper International (VCI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vedanta Limited (VEDL), inked an MoU with Saudi Arabia to invest about US $2 billion in copper projects there. That stated goal of that memorandum was to try and meet the latter country’s increasing demand for copper.

According to reports, the funds would be used to develop a 400 kilo tonnes per annum (KTPA) greenfield copper smelter and refinery as well as a 300 KTPA copper rod project, all of which will be located in Saudi Arabai’s Ras Al Khair Industrial City. 

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The Race For Copper

With more clean tech and electric vehicles coming into global markets, copper has become as hot a commodity as some of the rare earths minerals. With many experts predicting that demand will outgrow supply by 2035, the U.S., UK, China and South Korea are all looking to get more and more copper online.

Leading this race is China, which controls almost 50% of the global copper smelting and refining capacity. In an effort to further dominate the worldwide copper market, China has been exploring copper mining opportunities in countries like Zambia, the DRC and Chile, which was the leading copper producer in 2024.

However, Beijing recently implemented steps to curb overcapacity, making it necessary for smelters to sign long-term contracts with copper mines. As far as copper output is concerned, analysts have predicted another bumper year for China in 2025.

The World Looks To Africa

As copper demand continues to increase, China finds itself facing immense competition in Africa from countries like India, which are now trying to secure their own supply chains. 

By any standard, China leads the pack in the African mining race, having secured supplies of critical minerals like cobalt, graphite and magnesium, to name a few. What has worked in China’s favor so far is its “Belt and Road” initiative, which helped the country establish its supply chains remarkably quickly.

According to this analysis, Chinese FDI in African minerals increased by about US $4.2 billion in 2020 from a mere US $75 million in 2003. China currently has strategic partnerships with forty-four African countries. However, the country has not entered into other international partnerships, focusing instead on its own domestic producers to make up for the shortfall in supply.

Other nations in the race for African minerals are Russia, Canada, the UK and Australia. While Russia is focusing on South Africa and Namibia, many of the other countries continue to establish both agreements with African nations and each other. According to the analysis, such partnerships ensure a stable copper market supply chain and ethical mining practices, among other things. 

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India’s Growing Copper Market Presence

Meanwhile, India and Saudi Arabia continue to pursue the mining of minerals in Africa. However, they are doing it on a much more independent basis, avoiding frameworks and focusing on bilateral agreements or direct investments.

For instance, both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have increased their stakes in Africa, with the latter making significant investments, much of it earmarked for Zambia and the DRC. As stated in this report, the Washington-based Arab Gulf States Institute pointed out that Saudi Arabia has promised to invest about ten billion dollars in African mining projects over the coming five years.

India is going the same way, but it also has its eye on China’s moves in that region. Recently, Indian ministry officials held talks with representatives from the DRC, South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zimbabwe regarding mining collaborations. New Delhi already has MoUs in place with six of those countries for the supply of cobalt, nickel and other critical minerals. 

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