Ndola Refinery Set to Create 3,500 Jobs

The Zambia Development Agency has signed a landmark Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with Zambia Petrochemical Energy Company Limited, formally unlocking the path to construction of a major oil refinery - and with it, the promise of thousands of new jobs.

ZDA Director General Albert Halwampa put the employment figure front and centre at the signing ceremony, confirming the project is expected to create more than 3,500 jobs. During the construction phase alone, over 2,200 positions are expected to be filled, with local Zambians set to benefit from both job creation and skills transfer from Chinese partners.

Beyond construction, the project will support over 700 direct jobs once operational, with hundreds more indirect opportunities in logistics, supply chains and related services rippling out across the Copperbelt.

Mr Halwampa also highlighted that the investment goes beyond the refinery gates - helping accelerate Zambia's copper production targets and insulating the economy from the kind of global supply disruptions that have repeatedly left fuel pumps running dry.