Growing demand for copper will support economic growth in both Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.Zambia stands to benefit both from copper exports and rising demand for consumer goods, foodstuffs, and mining equipment in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).The demand for copper is expected to grow by up to 50% over the next 20 years, according to the UK-based Copper Development Association. Demand is being driven by the increased consumption of electronics, the proliferation of electric vehicles, the increased use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency – all of which require significant amounts of copper in order to function.In 2019 Democratic Republic of the Congo was the 88th-largest economy in the world in terms of GDP, number 96 in total exports, number 116 in total imports, and 178 in terms of GDP per capita on the Economic Complexity Index (ECI), according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC).The top imports are packaged medicaments ($363m), refined petroleum ($287m), sulphuric acid ($180m), stone processing machines ($153m), and delivery trucks ($152m).The DRC spends around $1.5 billion a year on food imports, despite its agricultural potential.According to World Integrated Trade Solution, the biggest food exporters to the DRC are France ($31.3m in 2019), Senegal ($15m), South Africa ($14m), Belgium ($10m) and India ($9m). Imports of other commodities come mainly from China ($2.08 billion), South Africa ($1.05bn), Zambia ($901m), Rwanda ($371m), and Belgium ($362 m).Top exports in 2019 were refined copper ($4.06bn), cobalt ($1.91bn), copper ore ($544m), crude petroleum ($467m), and raw copper ($249m), exporting mostly to China ($4.33bn), United Arab Emirates ($877m), Saudi Arabia ($525m), South Korea ($405m), and Italy ($2 87 m).In 2019 Zambia was the number 109 economy in the world in terms of GDP, number 90 in total exports, number 115 in total imports, and number 158 in terms of GDP per capita, according to the OEC.Zambia’s top exports are raw copper ($5.37bn), refined copper ($1.92bn), gold ($278m), precious stones ($260m), and sulphuric acid ($149m). The export destinations are listed as Switzerland ($2.89bn), China ($1.6bn), Namibia ($1.21bn), DRC ($901m), and Singapore ($531m).The top imports of Zambia are refined petroleum ($648m), crude petroleum ($443m), delivery trucks ($188m), gold ($171m), and nitrogenous fertilisers ($163m), importing mostly from South Africa ($2.14bn), China ($1.02bn), United Arab Emirates ($853m), India ($335m), and Namibia ($2 3 0 m).
