BMI Research, part of Fitch Solutions, says drought-linked power shortages from this year’s El Nifio pose a new risk to copper production in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, two of Africa’s main base-metal producers. Heavy reliance on hydropower leaves DRC, Zambia and Zimbabwe vulnerable to outages; reduced supply could raise costs at energy‑intensive smelters. Zambia gets 87% of its power from hydropower, and BMI notes that in prior El Nifio episodes the share of hydro capacity affe

BMI Research, part of Fitch Solutions, says drought-linked power shortages from this year’s El Nifio pose a new risk to copper production in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, two of Africa’s main base-metal producers. Heavy reliance on hydropower leaves DRC, Zambia and Zimbabwe vulnerable to outages; reduced supply could raise costs at energy‑intensive smelters. Zambia gets 87% of its power from hydropower, and BMI notes that in prior El Nifio episodes the share of hydro capacity affected by drought rose 29%.