Two weeks to go: GC Forum Extractives comes to Zambia

In two weeks’ time, on 29 September 2026, we will gather in Livingstone for the inaugural Zambia Edition of GC Forum Extractives, our first in-country forum and an important new chapter for a platform that has grown alongside Africa’s mining and energy sectors.

For several years, GC Forum Extractives has brought senior leaders together in Cape Town alongside Mining Indaba. The Zambia Edition takes that conversation closer to the market: into one of Africa’s most important and fastest-growing mining jurisdictions, at a moment of renewed interest, regulatory change and ambitious plans for growth.

The theme for this month's forum, “Structuring Growth in a New Extractives Era,” reflects the opportunity and the challenge before the sector.

Zambia’s mineral potential is well established, while accelerating global demand for copper and other critical minerals creates fresh possibilities for investment and industrialisation. Realising those possibilities, however, will depend on more than geology. It will require investable projects, reliable infrastructure, regulatory certainty, strong governance and partnerships that create lasting value.

These are interconnected questions, and they are best explored by bringing together the people who see them from different angles. The forum in Livingstone will convene senior decision-makers from government, mining, energy, law, finance and investment for an afternoon of focused discussion and relationship-building.

The confirmed speaker line-up so far, reflects that range of perspectives.

Contributors include Sokwani Chilembo, CEO of the Zambia Chamber of Mines ; Joseph Jalasi, Head of Mining at Eric Silwamba Jalasi & Linyama Legal Practitioners ; Andrew Muyaba, Head of Corporate and Investment Banking at Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco) PLC (Zanaco); Charles Douglas-Hamilton, Senior Mining Specialist in the The World Bank Group Metals and Minerals Department; Kudakwashe “Kuda” Chitanga, Manager for Legal and Corporate Services at First Quantum Minerals ; and Nkandu Makili Beltz, Founder and Managing Director of Beltz Mining Ltd .

They will be joined by voices from the University of Zambia, August Hill & Associates , Deneys, Gill & Seph Advocates, Kevin Lester and Africa Legal , bringing industry, finance, law, academia and development expertise into the same conversation.

The programme follows the investment journey from opportunity through to long-term competitiveness. It begins by examining Zambia’s potential to power Africa’s next critical-minerals growth story, before turning to the practical work of financing investment, infrastructure and bankable projects. Sessions will also consider the regulatory outlook for businesses, the energy and regional connectivity needed to support growth, and the role of sustainability and communities in maintaining a licence to operate.

The afternoon concludes by looking ahead: how can sound governance protect investment and manage risk, and what will ultimately define Zambia’s global competitiveness in the years to come?

The format is deliberately concentrated. Keynotes, panel discussions, quick-fire legal and commercial updates, and fireside conversations will give delegates access to informed perspectives without losing sight of practical realities. Coffee, networking, and the closing cocktails and canapés reception will create space for the quieter conversations that often prove just as valuable as the formal programme.

That balance matters.

The extractives sector is shaped not only by policy and capital, but also by trust: trust between public and private-sector leaders, between investors and operators, and between projects and the communities around them. An in-country forum offers a setting in which those relationships can deepen and ideas can be tested against local experience.

We are looking forward to welcoming the Zambia extractives community and its regional and international partners, to the Radisson Blu Mosi-Oa-Tunya, Livingstone Resort. More than a new location, this is an opportunity to build a more locally grounded conversation around the decisions that will shape Zambia’s next phase of growth.

Attendance is complimentary for eligible senior professionals and is by invitation, subject to approval. If the themes speak directly to your work—whether you are part of an in-house legal team, an industry leader, an investor or financier, a government or policy professional, or working in risk, compliance, academia or civil society, we invite you to review the programme and request to join us.

We hope to see you in Livingstone on 29 September.