A Kenyan firm, Mwale Medical and Technology City (MMTC), has signed a deal with Zambia under which it will invest $2.4bn in developing smart cities, mining, infrastructure and agriculture projects in the southern African nation.

Capital FM said on June 4 that the into Zambia entry of MMTC, founded by US-based Kenyan businessman Julius Mwale, advances the firm’s long-term ambition of developing 18 smart cities in 12 countries in Africa by 2050. The cities will be powered by batteries like MMTC in Kenya, according to the agreement MMTC signed with Zambia's Industrial Development Corporation.

"We will start immediately in July and work to fulfill the agreement," said Norbert Mugeni, a chemical engineer and assistant project manager in the energy division of MMTC.

He noted the mining projects will focus on nickel, cobalt and copper. "We want to use cobalt and nickel for building battery manufacturing plants for EVs in the Kasempa region of Zambia," he said.

Zambia is Africa’s number two copper and cobalt producer after neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Jack Chadukwa, the chief executive officer of Afritechnics in Zambia, another consortium member said that the idea is to create industries in Zambia that create value addition and thousands of jobs.

"We are glad to be part of Mwale's consortium so that we can replicate what we saw at MMTC in Kenya here in Zambia," he said.

He said that they will build smart cities, roads, and deploy mineral resources for new factories that will employ thousands of Zambians.