Connect with:
Thursday / June 12.
logo
mobile-logo
HomeStandard Blog Whole Post (Page 135)
Companies

RUBiS Energy Zambia managing director Vincent Freury has disclosed that the energy company has officially launched their presence in Zambia following the successful acquisition of Kobil and Samfuel.

Freury told the gathering at the launch event that the acquisition has enabled RUBiS Zambia to strengthen their share of the Zambian Petroleum sector, with 40 service stations across the country.

“Important to note, this is a brand for Zambians and through them, we commit to offering efficiency, excellence and above all consumer confidence to our new and already existing clientele,” Freury said.

He stated that despite the negative impact of the COVID pandemic, RUBiS Energy Zambia, a local unit of RUBiS energy based in France believes in the potential of the Zambian economy to bounce back stronger albeit gradually.

Freury said it is in the same spirit that the company chose to introduce fresh RUBiS Energy at this time to fuel the Zambian economy. He said for RUBiS, this energy is unleashing new frontiers through the rebrand, and creating new opportunities for Zambians to succeed.

He said to further devolve the accessibility, it is the company’s intent to expand its  footprint and to invest heavily in the market through leases, land purchase, acquisitions and through modernization of its existing retail outlets into state-of-the-art service stations built by Zambians for Zambians.

Fruery said the launch of the Ibex service station RUBiS brand is the first step in the pipeline of activities aimed at meeting customer needs for mobility with high quality fuel and lubricants, and also cooking with RUBiS’ LPG K-gas brand through its service stations.

“In addition, we are working on innovative concepts aimed at satisfying the needs and desires of customers on the go.

“These will include our convenience store brand, RUBiS Express, providing nice snacks and drinks to motorists on the go, but also Quick Service Restaurants, Service Bays, ATMs and all the concepts, which will make our customers to feel at home at RUBiS. We also provide automotive fuel cards offering exclusive offers and services to promote customer loyalty at our retail outlets in all four corners of the country,” he said.

Rubis East Africa group managing director Jean-Christian Bergeron said Zambia is an important market for the company as it sees not only significant growth potential but, more importantly, many ways in which the company can make life’s journey better for Zambians.

Bergeron said Rubis’ vision for Zambia is to become the preferred brand of customers on the move by providing quality products and services with convenience and efficiency while focusing on safety and environment.

“As you can see and you will continue to see, our Kobil and Samfuel stations are one by one becoming Rubis and this transformation has much more in store for our customers than just a new name and logo.

“First and foremost, we are upgrading and modernizing our service stations such as this Ibex service station with the highest quality of products in state-of-the-art facilities offering a safe, clean and modern environment,” he said.

Bergeron said in all Rubis service stations, there would be Rubis Express shop concept added to provide an excellent convenience shopping experience to save time and money.

“For individual as well as commercial customers, we offer the Rubis Card which provides a convenient and secure payment solution for both fuel and shop purchases, and a fuel discount to thank you for your loyalty,” he said.

And the Zambian Government has called on Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to continue expanding the number of fuel service stations in the country to increase access to petroleum products.

Speaking during the launch of RUBiS Energy Zambia at the Ibex Hill Service station in Lusaka which the Zambian Business Times-ZBT attended, Ministry of Energy director Mandona Miyova said there is need for OMCs to come on board as Zambia works to improve the energy sector in the country.

Miyova said petroleum is key as it determines economic, social and political outcomes.

“Your contribution to Zambia’s petroleum industry is important; we welcome the move to launch as part of your efforts to serve Zambians efficiently. Petroleum is a key industry that determines economic, social and political outcomes.

“We urge other oil marketing companies to continue expanding the number of filling stations in the country not only in the urban areas but also in the rural areas to increase access to petroleum products,” she said.

Miyova said government was looking forward to having more investors and forging of more project partnerships that will offer more opportunities to Zambians.

“As you may be aware, for importing countries such as Zambia, petroleum accounts for a large amount of foreign exchange expenditure. So this launch is important as it opens doors for Zambians not only for consuming fuel but also creation of job opportunities for local Zambians in different capacities.

“The coming of this is a strong indication of favorable market dynamics and a growing economy. Competition brings about improved service delivery; I would like to call upon other OMCs to come on board as we improve the energy sector in Zambia,” she said.

0 Comments
0 likes

RUBiS Energy Zambia managing director Vincent Freury

Mining

Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investments Holdings (ZCCM-IH) says it is currently offering a very competitive price for buying gold in the country at K1,150 per gram (about K1.2m for 1kg of gold), which is in line with global gold prices.

ZCCM-IH public relations manager Loisa Mbatha-Kakoma told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that ZCCM-IH’s pricing has been competitive considering its presence in the market since it started and has raised the prices from the previous prices of about K250 per gram to have more market reflective pricing.

“Our pricing has actually been competitive considering our presence in the market since we started; we raised the prices from the previous unofficial exploitative ones of K250 per gram to have more market reflective pricing. We reached as high as K1,150 per gram from December 2020 to early this year,” she said.

Meanwhile, the price of gold being offered on the black market or by private buyers is currently K1,100 per gram.

Mbatha-Kakoma said in addition, ZCCM-IH does not charge any tax when buying the gold as it pays the tax on behalf of the artisanal small-scale miners.

“We do not charge any tax when buying the gold, as a matter of fact; we actually pay the tax on their behalf. Therefore, our pricing still remains competitive on the market and reflective of the global prices,” she reiterated.

Mbatha-Kakoma said the buying programme of gold is ongoing, and that ZCCM-IH has continued undertaking stakeholder awareness and engagement on the program. She said further, the company has so far set up gold-buying centres in strategic panning areas such as Lumezi, Vubwi and Rufunsa districts.

She also disclosed that from June 2020 to March 2021, the Zambia Gold Company, which is part of ZCCM-IH, has produced cumulative of 91 kilograms (KGs) of gold. Mbatha-Kakoma said that monthly production of gold varies depending on the availability of ore material.

She said in terms of formalizing artisanal small scale miners, ZCCM-IH’s role is working with licensed artisanal miners. Mbatha-Kakoma said so far, it was working with registered and licensed cooperatives in Rufunsa, Vubwi and Lumezi.

In March 2020, ZCCM-IH started buying gold from artisanal and small-scale miners in the country. However, some artisanal gold miners had complained to ZBT stating that the black market prices were more attractive, leading to most Gold not being mopped up by the formal market.

1 Comment
0 likes

Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investments Holdings (ZCCM-IH)

Tech

Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has confirmed that the contract of employment for its Director General, Engineer Patrick Mutimushi has expired and has not been renewed.

The authority’s board Chairperson Frightone Sichone said the contract of employment for the erstwhile Director General ended on 7 May 2021.

According to information made available to the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Sichone said consequently, the Director responsible for Economic Regulation, Mulenga Chisanga has since been appointed to act as Director General until the position is filled.

The Board of Authority has thanked Engineer Mutimushi for his immense contribution towards the regulatory framework of the ICT and postal sectors and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.

The board has not made public the reasons behind the decision not to renew but sources within ZICTA told ZBT that the issues that engulfed the initial issuance of the mobile network licence initially to Unitel/UZI and later to Beeline as the fourth mobile network operator in Zambia attracted too many powerful interests.

1 Comment
0 likes

Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA)

Agribusiness

You may have been one of those people that believed that Zambia is capable of manufacturing fertilizer locally, especially with the nostalgic stories attached to Kafue’s Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia – NCZ, that the company in not so distant past, used to locally manufacture and meet all fertilizer needs of Zambia.

Well, think again. Information has now emerged that Zambia has no requisite raw materials needed to locally manufacture the high usage basal and top dressing fertilizers needed to meet the growing demand of the Agro sector.

One of Zambia’s organic fertilizer companies who asked that their name be withheld has exclusively revealed to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that Zambia is unable to locally manufacture fertilizer, as it does not have the key minerals required to do so.

The source revealed that the only thing that can be done in the country is a process called blending in order to produce Urea (for top dressing), D Compound (for basal dressing p) and all the common types of fertilizers used in the country.

The organic fertilizer source told ZBT that some of the ingredients used to blend which are gotten [or imported] from outside the country include potassium sulphate, potassium nitrate, magnesium sulphate, potassium hydroxide, potassium carbonate, magnesium nitrate, iron sulphate, phosphoric acid and citric acid among other things.

The Source said phosphorous potassium Sulphur and iron are some of the elements, which build up Nitrogen Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK) and are used to make fertilizer. He said some of the minerals which are used to manufacture fertilizer, are not mined in Zambia and only specific countries have these minerals.

“For example urea being a very common and high usage fertilizer in Zambia, is not readily available in the country. Urea a byproduct of gas production process, we don’t have any local gas production, most of the gas companies are Arab companies, so they are able to produce urea. If we had these key required minerals, we would be able to manufacture fertilizer locally”, he said.

He added that some companies import some of these key fertilizer manufacturing materials and engage companies like Export Trading Group (ETG) or Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) to blend for them.

0 Comments
0 likes

You may have been one of those

Mining

The Association of Zambian Mineral Exploration Companies (AZMEC) has said there is urgent need for new and more geophysical surveys in the country to increase exploration activities, which in-turn leads to increased mining production.

Increased mineral exploration activities are a forerunner to the expansion of the mining industry as this is the first stage of investment, which when successfully completed develops to opening of large scale mining operations.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, AZMEC secretary general Alex Matthews said geophysical surveys has an important role to play in reducing geological uncertainties in mining.

Matthews said freely available cutting-edge new geoscience data has been a demonstrated route to growth of the sector in some countries. He said the geological survey department need to publish more geological maps of areas that are currently unmapped.

“The challenges that are there are availability of ground maps, delays in awarding and renewing licences, access to geological data from the survey department, and lack of availability of recent regional/ national geophysical surveys among others,” Matthews said.

Matthews said currently, the association members often experienced difficulties in accessing geological data. He said ready availability of such data has the ability to attract more investments into the country as investors usually look for such data to make investment decisions.

“The geological survey department has been telling us that they are addressing that and are trying to go online where you can actually log on and look for things that you want, so we are still waiting”, stated AZMEC

“As you may be aware, when an exploration company wants to come in the country, they look for information related to what they want to do so that they can build up from there, they wouldn’t want to be doing the same things that others have already done, because it’s expensive to carry out an exploration exercise,” Matthews said.

He said the aim for exploration companies is to make a discovery and give their investor return on their investment. These discoveries are what leads to Mine developments which then contribute to increased mineral production for the country.

Matthew said, “If you have the best data, regional survey people will pick places where they want to go into. So there is need to provide data.

The association currently comprises of five large-scale exploration companies, four associate members and 3 individual members. The large exploration companies include ZCCM-IH, Rio Tinto, Anglo Exploration Zambia limited, Goviex Mining Limited and Universal Mining and Chemical Industries Ltd (UMCIL).

1 Comment
0 likes

The Association of Zambian Mineral Exploration Companies

Companies

Puma Energy Zambia Managing Director Pinchi Simukwai has resigned from the energy company. Reasons for Simukwai’s resignation were not made publicly available, but the energy company proceeded to announce the appointment of his replacement as Knight Silumesii.

According to information obtained by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT from, Simukwai had a rich industry work experience and had previously served in various portfolios such as Finance Director, Finance Manager and Business Planning Manager before ascending to the top position as Puma Zambia Managing Director.

His replacement, Silumesii has over 17 years of experience in various portfolios in the petroleum industry as well the mining industry, Puma energy reported.Prior to his appointment, Silumesii served as Puma Energy Zambia Country Retail Manager for several years.

Company secretary Kalunga Lutato said Silumesii is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Zambia and holds a post graduate qualification in Business Administration from the Copperbelt University.

“The Puma Board wishes to thank Simukwai for his immense contribution to the Company over the past few years and wish him continued success in his future endeavors, as well as to congratulate Silumesii on his appointment, and looks forward to his contribution to the Company,” Lutato said.

The government of Zambia had recently threatened to revoke Puma Energy operating License over what then Energy Minister Mathew Nkhuwa termed as the company running out of fuel stocks deliberately creating an artificial shortage. See earlier article on Puma energy Zambia by ZBT Puma risk losing Zambia operating license

It is however not clear if Simukwai exit from the top job is related to this spat between Puma Energy And the Zambian government. The fuel supply situation in Zambia has improved but sporadic short term shortages are still common.

1 Comment
0 likes

Puma Energy Zambia Managing Director Pinchi Simukwai

Markets

The National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) has effectively taken control of Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank – ZICB by increasing its equity stake from 16% to 65%.

ZICB is a product of the restructuring of the former Intermarket Banking Corporation Zambia Limited, which the Bank of Zambia took possession of in November 2016, with the then Bank of Zambia Governor Dr. Denny Kalyalya confirming that the central bank had managed to save the bank from total collapse.

Bank of Zambia in October 2018 confirmed that they “managed to secure agreements with the majority of the large corporate depositors, i.e. National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA), the Madison Group and the Workers Compensation Fund Control Board to convert their deposit liabilities into equity while the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) came on board to participate in the process to ensure solvency.

According to information made available to the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, NAPSA Director General Yollard Kachinda said NAPSA has increased its stake following participation in a Rights Issue at a nominal price of K1 per share and upon obtaining the requisite regulatory approvals. The capital raised by ZICB through this transaction would strengthen its capital position and improve its cash flows.

“As a result of this transaction, NAPSA through its Special Purpose Vehicle, NAPSA Investments Holdings Company Limited has increased its stake in ZICB from 15.83% to 63%.

Kachinda said this capital injection was aimed at building capacity for market competitiveness, achieving operational efficiencies and realigning the strategic direction of the bank to facilitate growth in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector in the country, which has remained untapped.

“We are pleased to be part of the transformation of ZICB through this capital injection,” The Napsa Director General said.

ZICB was set up as a specialty bank to fund industrialization of Zambia but stakeholders say the bank is yet to show how this would be done significantly. Funding for local industries and local business still remain a challenge in Zambia. More information to follow…

0 Comments
0 likes

The National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) has

Companies

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has disclosed that it has gone ahead and undertaken a countrywide survey to check and confirm whether the three cement companies ordered to revert to pre-cartel prices have obliged.

This is despite the cement firms confirming separately that they have not reduced their cement prices and instead appealed the decision to the competition tribunal, exercising their legal options,

But CCPC Senior Public Relations Officer Namukolo Kasumpa said once the compilation of the information collected from all the provincial headquarters is done, the commission will then advise on the next course of action

According to information made available to the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Kasumpa said the deadline that was set by the board for the cement companies to reduce prices was 8 May, which has since elapsed.

She noted that the three companies namely, Lafarge Zambia Plc, Mpande Limestone Limited-Sinoma and Dangote Cement Zambia Limited were ordered to revert to the pre-cartel factory prices by 8 May this year.

A check done by ZBT with the top cement firms confirmed that non of them had reduced their prices, with the firms confirming that they have proceeded to appeal the order. What is most shocking is that CCPC has gone ahead to collect evidence that the prices have not been reduced.

CCPC has since stated that they will soon be making their stance known on the way forward. Consumers had been eagerly waiting for the reduction to take effect but analyst say this matter is likely to end in a long protracted legal battle.

1 Comment
0 likes

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC)

Companies

The top three cement companies who were last month ordered to cut cement prices and revert to what was described as pre-cartel prices ranging between US$4.5 to US$5 per 50kg bag have all defied the order.

A check done by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT with all the three cement producers who had been ordered to cut prices has revealed that non of them has reduced prices. One of the cement companies ordered to cut prices – Lafarge Zambia has confirmed with ZBT that they have mounted a legal challenge against the decision.

Lafarge Zambia has confirmed that they have appealed against the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC)’s decision alleging that the company contravened the Competition and Consumer Protection Act.

The company has denied participation in an alleged price-fixing and market allocation collusion in the cement market and looks forward to presenting its case.

Responding to ZBT, Lafarge Corporate Affairs and Communications Manager Sarah Banda said in its notice of appeal filed before the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal, the company has emphasized that it has cooperated with the CCPC throughout its investigation into the cement industry.

Banda said Lafarge provided numerous detailed submissions, documents and testimonies to demonstrate the lawful nature of its operations in the market. The prices have therefore not been reduced pending the tribunal process.

A further check with the other cement firm that was also fined and ordered to cut cement prices, a source who asked for their details to be withheld from Mpande Limestone Limited ( popularly known as Sinoma cement) has confirmed that the company has not reduced its cement prices.

Speaking exclusively to ZBT, the source said according to the information circulating within the company, Sinoma does not intend to revert to pre-cartel prices.

“Before any price adjustment or increment they need to inform us internally, so we haven’t been informed, it means we are not reducing. We need adequate time to communicate to our clients to say okay, cement prices are going up or they are being reduced”, the source told ZBT.

The most shocking thing is that even the cement company that was not fine but ordered to cut price,Dangote Cement, has also refused to badge. Dangote Cement has also confirmed that the company has maintained its cement prices but did not confirm if they have also taken the legal route to hold prices.

Cement prices were today expected to come down after CCPC confirmed that they had given the cement companies one month probation to implement the order. It seems instead that the cement firms opted to use the one month to put together a legal defense that would effectively derail the order.

Court processes in Zambia take time to settle, some legal experts have estimated an average of three years needed to litigate and have a judgment issued in complex cases such as this one. We now await a counter action CCPC who are yet to comment by press time. More details to follow…

1 Comment
0 likes

The top three cement companies who were

Agribusiness

The National Union for Small Scale Farmers in Zambia – NUSFAZ, which represents local farmers has appealed to government to recaptalise the Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) or immediately facilitate the set up another local fertilizer manufacturing plant so that fertiliser can be produced locally at affordable prices.

Union Executive Director Ebony Loloji said one of the reasons Zambia has continued to import fertiliser is because it has no capacity to produce locally and the equipment at NCZ is obsolete, therefore the need to recaptalise the plant is urgent.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Loloji said places where Zambia is importing fertiliser from have modern plants which has made it easy for them to produce fertiliser efficiently.

Loloji mentioned that the fertiliser produced locally and the fertiliser that is imported is sold at the same price on the local market which is surprising, because importations come with extra costs such as transportation that local producers do not incur.

He said the fertiliser that is produced locally is supposed to be cheaper than the imported one but that is not the case on the local market. This is not right if we had modern plants that would manufacture fertilizer efficiently. Zambia has all the key and bulk raw materials.

“You will find that D Compound that is imported is K650 for a 50kg bag and the one from Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia – NCZ is also K650. We need to recapitalize NCZ or set up other local manufacturing plants so that we can start producing fertiliser competitively”, he said.

Loloji has commended government for the early delivery of fertiliser under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) as it will advantage farmers because when one plants early, the chances of maximising their yields are high.

He said two factors are considered in terms of maximising profit in agriculture production, these are increasing yield and better quality, adding that receiving inputs early and access to certified and high quality seeds means farmers will plant on time and the yields will be maximized.

The Bank of Zambia – BOZ recently revealed that importation of Agro inputs as well as fuel Imports made up the two biggest contributors to the recent Kwacha slide. Stakeholders have since called on government through the Industrial Developments Corporation – IDC to prioritize fixing this gapping annual forex outflow.

The forex bleeding initiated by the huge annual Agro import bill can be stopped by IDC spearheading either revamping NCZ or coming up with a new company to manufacture fertilizers and other Agro blends locally.

Experts have stated that this forex bleeding is the very reason why NCZ was set up in the first place, but successive governments neglected local manufacturing opting for the easy option of importing.

Experts say IDC also has the option of engaging and partnering with local fertilizer trading and blending company’s such as Export Trading Group – ETG to set up local manufacturing plants and exploit local sources of raw materials. This is expected to lead to stopping the forex bleeding, contribute to stabilizing the Kwacha as well as more securing jobs locally.

0 Comments
0 likes

The National Union for Small Scale Farmers