Welcome To Kitwe Town - The Hub Of The Copperbelt!

Kitwe town was founded in 1936. It is the second-largest town in Zambia. The population stood at about 470, 000 in the year 2000.

Kitwe is found in the north-central of Zambia. Yes, it is right in the centre of the copperbelt!

Getting there

At the moment, you can easily get to or from Kitwe by road since the only Airport in the town, Southdowns, 25 kilometers on Kalulushi road has long been closed.

Hotel Edinburgh

Kitwe is also approximately 65 kilometers from Ndola. The road is a well maintained dual carriage way, which takes less than an hour to reach Ndola. However, the town is approximately 350 kilometers from Lusaka.

Traveling by road

The main bus station is in the second class trading area. From here you can connect to Lusaka, Luapula, Northern province and Solwezi.

Traveling by train

Kitwe is at the end of the line from Livingstone. You can board the train and pass through Ndola, Lusaka and up to Livingstone.

Economic activity

For quite sometime, Kitwe, just like the rest of the copperbelt has been seeing a decline in the economic activity. Kitwe relies for its prosperity on copper. However, with the privatization of the Nkana mine, things are turning for the better now.

Hotels and lodges

The following are some of the hotels and lodges found in Kitwe: Buchi Hotel, Chilembe Safari Lodge, Chinzombo lodge, Nkana Hotel, and Hotel Edinburgh.

Scenery

Kitwe town has a pleasant scenery. Here, you find gently undulating woodland, dambos and farmland. One of the two major rivers found here is the the kafue river flowing along Kitwe’s outskirts.

Mining

There are two main underground mines in Kitwe. The Nkana, in the south-west and Mindolo, in the North-west. Nkana includes a concentrator, smelter and refinery as well as a cobalt plant. So, we can say that Kitwe is right in the heart of the copper producing area!

Institutions

One of the most important institutions found here is the Copperbelt University (CBU). Formerly this was the Zambia Institute of Technology (ZIT) which was founded in 1970. However, on 1st January 1989 it was integrated into the Copperbelt University (CBU).

The other Institution is the Kitwe Central Hospital (KCH). This is one of the three teaching hospitals in the country.

Where to eat

Where do you eat in Kitwe? Check out the following :Mona Lisa- at parklands shopping centre, offers full Italian food, Mukwa restaurant - serving a variety of Indian food, Arabian nights - serves Pakistani cuisine, Acropolis Taverna - specializes in Greek cuisine and many more!