Mfikeyi Makayi
KoBold Metals Africa

As Managing Director of KoBold Metals Africa, Mfikeyi Makayi has led the American company’s mineral exploration operations across Zambia, her home country, as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, and Botswana. KoBold’s artificial intelligence platforms analyse data drawn from thousands of geological reports, enabling faster, more accurate mineral exploration while reducing environmental impact. By identifying promising deposits with greater precision, AI is reshaping how critical minerals are discovered. In Zambia, KoBold’s Mingomba project aims to increase copper production to 3 million tonnes per year by 2032, compared with around 1 million tonnes today. For Makayi, the challenge extends far beyond mining: “To achieve the energy transition, we will need to prospect as much over the next fifty years as in the whole history of humanity. We have a climate to save.”