Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Chipoka Mulenga has disclosed that feasibility studies on the land which has been secured for the manufacturing of electric car batteries are currently underway and commencement of construction of the factory will begin once the studies are concluded.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Mulenga explained that the land is on the Copperbelt Province but declined to state the exact location.
Mulenga said he could not give the timeframe for commencement of the construction of the manufacturing factory stating that it will only commence once all things have been put in place.
“Feasibility studies are happening so once they are done we will guide you, we don’t want to misinform the public whereby today we say this and then tomorrow we come back and change. We want to tell you things that are timely and achievable. Like the President said the land has been found and the location will be communicated to the public once feasibility studies are done”, he said.
He noted that he needs to inquire from the President the size of the land and the investment that will be injected into this project.
The Minister also mentioned that a number of companies have shown interest in developing the manufacturing factory for the electric car batteries.
And Copperbelt Province minister Elisha Matambo has revealed that government is considering three districts for setting up the manufacturing of electric car batteries.
Matambo said the three districts that are being considered are Ndola, Chingola and Chililabombwe.
The Minister however suggested that Ndola would be a better place for putting up such a factory as a way of revamping the area in terms of industry and create more jobs.
He explained that Ndola was known as a place where the industries were found but the previous government killed almost all the small scale industries in the area hence the need to have the factory there.
