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Mining

The Small Scale Miners Association of Zambia (SSMAZ) which is mostly composed by local miners have called on ZCCM-IH and Zambia Gold Company to set competitive prices for gold to attract more small scale miners to sell to them.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, SSMAZ Board Chairperson Simon Njovu said many small-scale miners were willing to sell gold to ZCCM-IH but the buying price is not attractive.

Njovu said the price being offered by ZCCM-IH is K500 per gram while private buyers are offering K1,200 per gram. He said as a result, a lot of small-scale miners are not attracted to ZCCM-IH and are opting to sell to private buyers because of lower and uncompetitive prices being offered.

“ZCCM-IH needs to set a good price for gold to attract more small scale miners to sell to them, it should offer 70 percent off the market price being indicated at the London Metal Exchange (LME) to small scale miners,” Njovu said.

He said ZCCM.IH has so far bought only 100 kilogrammes of gold from small-scale miners in the country. “When you look at LME operations, Zambia does not have any representation there but yet it stands to be one of the largest mineral exporter in Southern Africa,” Njovu added.

He said, “While base and precious metals mining are mature markets, we are witnessing the start of a new era for gold, lithium, copper and cobalt production as demand for these four materials undergoes higher growth from such developments as lithium-ion batteries.

“Above all, we need to see the ministry of Mines increase policy intervention and support to small scale and local mining industry to see growth and create more jobs,” Njovu said.

He disclosed that for the past 50 years, small-scale miners have been using shovels and other small tools. There is need to have financial products and policy support that are tailored to our local mining industry. The country will ultimately benefit once the mining industry is under the control of locals.

Njovu further challenged the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) not work in isolation but involve small-scale and local miners to come up with monetary policy interventions and regulation that would lead to the financial services industry being responsive to the needs of local miners.

Njovu said the central bank must create a committee to look at precious metals recovery program through the private sector in small-scale mining. “We also ask ministry of mines to open up more testing and control points for precious metals to maintain prices.

The banking industry must be re-designed to offer loans for acquisition of mining equipment. This lack of financing has been one of the major setbacks to developing local mining and locally owned mines in Zambia,” he added.

The Bank of Zambia has also started building gold reserves and failure by ZCCM IH (One of the two key companies selling gold to the central bank) to offer competitive prices risk the country failing to build credible size of reserves to help defend the Kwacha which has a history of perpetual depreciation.

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The Small Scale Miners Association of Zambia

Agribusiness

Copperbelt based poultry farmers complained of being exploited by animal feed companies which have taken advantage of the shortage of chicks.

The animal feed manufacturing companies had started asking poultry farmers to buy all the feed required to grow chickens to the recommended size at once when placing an order for the day old chicks, a situation that resulted in further stress for the affected farmers.

One Copperbelt based farmer based in Luanshya told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that this practice was never the case in the past as poultry farmers were allowed to buy a particular feed that is needed at a particular stage and then later buy the other required feed when needed.

When ZBT contacted one of the feed companies, Tiger Animal Feeds, which has been accused of allowing its sales agents and stores on the Copperbelt to demand full payment for both chicks and feed to grow the chicks to maturity, the company refuted claims stating that if it’s being done, it’s not with the blessings of the company.

Company Sales Manager Priscilla Bafana said customers are allowed to buy the feed in bits but they should make sure the money is available so that when the feed finishes, they are ready to buy the other one, which is required for the next stage of growth.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with ZBT, Bafana said customers are advised to make sure money for the whole feed range needed to grow the chickens to the required size is available in order to avoid a situation where farmers fail to buy feed at a particular stage of growing the chickens.

Bafana mentioned that this does not mean that poultry farmers should buy all the feed required at once, but should ensure that money is readily available to buy the feed required at every stage.

She said affected customers who have been made or forced to buy all the feed at once when they are not ready should report specific individuals or sales representatives who are asking them to buy the whole feed at once, as that is not acceptable by the company.

She said the company only guides its customers on how to go about using their feed but they can buy the feed whenever they need it. Sales agency’s or representative are not allowed to demand the purchase for all the feed range at once.

Day old chicks shortage had emerged in some parts of the country resulting in some sales agencies and sales outlets now taking advantage of the shortage to sale their other stock feed ranges and supplies

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Copperbelt based poultry farmers complained of being

Companies

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission – CCPC has exclusively disclosed to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that market prices for cement in Zambia will have to conform to the issued directive to cut cement prices by the ninth of next month (9 May 2021).

The CCPC Board directed Zambia’s top cement producers Lafarge Zambia Plc, Dangote Cement Zambia Limited and Mpande Limestone Limited – commonly known on the market as Sinoma Cement to revert to the pre-cartel prices which effectively takes effect 30 days after the parties receive the board decision.

According to information made available to the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, CCPC Senior Public Relations Officer Namukolo Kasumpa, the three companies confirmed receiving the board decision on 8 April and have a 30 days window period [to comply], which is still open given the date the parties received the board’s decision.

The commission has ordered the slashing of cement prices from the current average prices of K140 per 50kg bag of cement to a range of between US$4.5 to US$5 which translates to K110 per 50kg bag at the current exchange rate of K22 per 1 US dollar.

Zambian consumers and constructors will then be able to have the advantage of 21% price reduction, a scenario that will aid the completion of several infrastructure, housing and other building projects.

The CCPC board ordered Lafarge Zambia Plc, Mpande Limestone and Dangote cement to revert to the pre-cartel prices ranging between US$4.5-US$5 for a period of up to 1-year effective date of receipt of the board decision.

A check with Pafriw Hardware, one of the new hardware mega stores by ZBT confirmed that cement prices have started going down as a 50kg bag of Lafarge and Sinoma Cement were being sold under promotion for K125 and K120 respectively.

A source within the company who requested for their name to be withheld told ZBT that the hardware megastore has initiated the promotion in anticipation of the reduced order prices. However, other distributors for the large cement brands are still in the dark as to when the new prices will be effected.

See also other articles by ZBT on cement prices Cement prices slashed by 21%

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Agribusiness

The Crushers and Edible Oil Refiners Association (CEDORA) has disclosed that calls for lifting the ban on the importation of refined cooking oils are misguided and will not result in the reduction of the retail prices of cooking oil in the country.

Association Director Aubrey Chibumba said the cooking oil prices in the country are cheaper than the prices in South Africa where importers would be buying it, so the association does not see how traders will be able to sell it at a cheaper price in Zambia.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Chibumba said lifting the ban on cooking oil importation would only bring about rampant smuggling of the commodity, under declaring and not paying the right duties and taxes to government as that is the only way importers would be able to sell it at a cheaper price.

Chibumba said only those that have such an “advantage” would benefit from lifting the ban on the importation of edible oils but soya bean farmers and the entire edible oils value chain would bear the cost as the price of soya beans in the country would collapse.

He said the importers would have no impact if they do things the right way because cooking oil in Zambia is cheaper than it is in South Africa, which is the source market for most imports. so it is not possible for them to import the oil using the right channel, landing and selling it at a cheaper price.

“There are over 100,000 local farmers growing soya beans, and about 700,000 Zambians currently deriving their livelihood from the Soya value chain. But when you compare this to the traders, you need to ask yourself: who exactly are these traders? who are they and how many are they? are they even Zambians, do they pay taxes and have employees?, so who get the benefit when you import refined cooking oil and then the local soya bean price drops, who are you impacting the most”, Chibumba questioned.

Chibumba said 95% of the edible oils consumed in Zambia are produced by the association’s members and the ban on the importation of cooking oil has not affected the price of cooking oil at all. He attributed the current increase in prices to the depreciation of the Kwacha as crude palm oil imports have had to take the increase in prices.

He revealed that two thirds of the edible oil that the country consumes is currently imported as crude palm oil because Zambia does not produce enough oil seed despite having excess crushing capacity, which can process about two thirds of annual edible oil consumption.

He also said that Zambia has refinery capacity of twice the country’s annual consumption adding that Zambia has excess capacity but oil seed cultivation has not expanded to that level yet.

CEDORA’s Chibumba further stated that as the country increase oil seed cultivation and production, crude palm oil has to be imported, otherwise there won’t be enough cooking oil to meet the demand for the country.

Chibumba said the international price of crude palm oil, which is the main oil that is imported increased from about US$750 this time last year to about US$1,300 and the kwacha devaluation from about K14 per 1 US dollar to the current about K22 per 1 IS dollar has greatly affected the cooking oil prices. The increase in commodity prices is a global phenomenon that has spilled over to other commodities as well.

He added that the exchange rate and the high interest rates are factors that affect the prices of commodities domestically. Chibumba told ZBT that looking at these two factors, prices should have gone up by about 83% but they have only gone up by 53%. The local edible oil producers have shouldered some of the cost as sales volumes have dropped so much as people are finding the retail product expensive.

“If we try to push prices too high, demand will drop even further and it will put us in a difficult situation. The retail price of cooking oil in our shops is lower than the retail price in South Africa, so when you traders are saying this ban has led to the increase in prices, then why is our cooking oil cheaper here”, he asked.

He also noted that the ban on the importation of edible oils was effected in 2017 but cooking oil prices remained stable until last year when prices started going up. When you check this timeline, it is the same time that the country experienced rapid depreciation of the Kwacha, which is a clear indication that the ban has nothing to do with the high prices.

Chibumba explained that the producers of edible oils in Zambia are not causing the problem, as they have no control over the exchange rate and international commodity prices. He however agreed that increasing local production of seed oils like soya beans and sunflower would result in massive benefits for the economy.

We need to make sure that local soya or seed oil prices don’t collapse as farmers will abandon growing the crop. Zambia is capable of growing enough soya to feed the entire capacity for edible oil crushers and producers and even export to neighboring countries, but there is need for policy consistency to sustain year on year increase in Soya production.

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The Crushers and Edible Oil Refiners Association

Mining

One of Zambia’s top copper miners – Lubambe Copper Mines has appointed a new Managing Director. The Board of Directors for Lubambe Copper Mine has appointed Tim Duffy as the new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director for Lubambe Copper Mine effective April 1, 2021.

According to information made available to the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Duffy is an international mining executive with almost 30 years of experience in the mining industry.

He has an outstanding track record of achievements in relation to delivering outcomes surrounding competitiveness, profitability and growth.

Lubambe board chairperson Owen Hegarty said, “In addition to his executive experience, working at an international level has enabled Mr. Duffy to have a detailed understanding of broader corporate challenges such as the impact on environmental, social and governance factors.”

Prior to joining Lubambe, Duffy was Vice President Director and chief executive officer of PT Agincourt Resources in Indonesia.

During this time, he was part of a team which developed a greenfields gold project into the highly successful Martabe Gold Mine.

Duffy takes over the role from Nick Bowen, who is retiring after a 40 year mining career. Nick will be assisting Tim with the transition over the next few months.

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One of Zambia’s top copper miners -

Markets

The World Bank has called for the need to tailor financial products and services to the women led Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) (W-SME) appropriately to ensure that credit is available for them.

According to the survey report dubbed ‘Access to Finance and Capacity Building of Women-led Small and Medium Enterprises in Zambia’ done by the World Bank in March 2021, there is significant potential for W-SME lending, with an estimated market size of K2.2 billion for W-SME loans.

This is a combination of unmet demand from current female borrowers and women led firms that need to borrow in the future and the number is quite significant.

Speaking during the Launch of the survey report policy Workshop attended by the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, World Bank country manager Dr Sahr Kpundeh said to unlock this demand and make sure that credit is available to viable women-led SMEs; one key factor was to be able to tailor financial products and services to W-led SMEs appropriately.

He said there is room to pursue innovations that can take into account how women-led SMEs operate, the types of collateral they have access to and the additional services that would be needed to ensure they understand the products on offer.

Dr Kpundeh said, “Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative Zambia is pursuing partnerships with financial institutions to provide technical assistance to do just this.”

He said the survey shows that women in business do not find financial institutions to be particularly welcoming, with many female borrowers who are successful in their applications reporting lower loan amounts with shorter repayment periods compared to male peers.

Dr Kpundeh said moreover, almost half of the women surveyed report that financial institutions require them to provide male signatories although the law does not require it.

“Development of new products and services leveraging the significant advancements in the regulatory environment offers another critical opportunity.

“Zambia is the global leader in the Doing Business Getting Credit indicator, and yet we do not see financial institutions taking full advantage of this best practice legal and institutional framework,” he said.

Dr Kpundeh noted that SMEs in Zambia have been heavily impacted by COVID. He said according to the latest round of COVID surveys conducted by the World Bank, nearly 6 percent firms have permanently closed and for those that have remained open, monthly sales have fallen by 34 percent on average.

Dr. Kpundeh observed that the liquidity crisis for SMEs is particularly severe as 95 percent firms face cash flow constraints, 84 percent firms have delayed payments to suppliers, landlords or tax authorities and 23 percent have been overdue on financial obligations.

“SMEs in Zambia represent 70 percent of GDP, employ 88 percent of the workforce, and constitute 97 percent of businesses. Women-led SMEs constitute 17 to 30 percent of SMEs in Zambia, according to varying estimates in the formal and informal sectors.

“In this context, the survey of women led SMEs and the market research report on moveable asset based lending are even more relevant as they offer granular details on what can be done to boost access to finance and non-financial services for SMEs and enhance the credit environment in Zambia,” he said.

Dr. Kpundeh said the market study on the movable asset-based lending points out how Zambia can further improve the eco-system for such lending that is a mainstay and a critical tool for SME access to finance in developed economies.

“The World Bank Group is a dedicated partner to the Government and the financial and private sectors in advancing this agenda,” he said.

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The World Bank has called for the

Mining

Mopani Copper Mines Plc, one of Zambia’s leading copper producers on 13 April 2021 announced the launch of its new corporate brand identity with a redesigned logo to reflect the recent changes to its shareholding structure.

Mopani is the main economic anchor company for Zambia’s second largest city Kitwe, and Mufulira were it operates its two major underground mines. It has also been the key sponsor of Nkana and Mufulira wanderers football clubs which both have a rich history when it comes to Zambian football.

“As part of our rebranding exercise following the recent acquisition of the majority stake in our company by ZCCM-IH, it has become imperative that we redesign our corporate brand identity and there is no better way to reflect this than in our resilient Mopani tree logo,” said Charles Sakanya, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of Mopani.

“While our ever-green Mopani tree and the company name remain unchanged, our new logo now carries a strapline ‘A ZCCM-IH Subsidiary’ to reflect who we are today and our dynamic future as a proudly Zambian-owned mine.”

ZCCM-IH, which has been a shareholder in Mopani since inception in April 2000, recently completed the acquisition of the majority stake in the Kitwe-and-Mufulira mining operation from previous majority shareholders, Glencore International AG, to become the sole shareholder in Mopani Copper Mines Plc.

Designed to reflect Mopani’s new corporate philosophy of increased confidence in the ability of Zambian professionals to manage their own assets, the new Mopani logo evokes a sense of inspiration and optimism. The breaking long and short lines on either side of the ZCCM-IH strapline signify our new parent company’s corporate strategy of breaking new grounds and expanding its footprint in the mining industry.

“Proud as we are of our rich history and deep roots, we have retained the core elements of our logo; the resilient Mopani tree with its ability to weather all weather conditions and the irrepressible name ‘MOPANI’.

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Mopani Copper Mines Plc, one of Zambia’s

Mining

The Zambia International Mining and Energy Conference and Exhibition-ZIMEC 2021 edition has been scheduled to take place from May 4-5 2021.

The Zambian leading mining and energy meeting, which has been taking place for the last decade, will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a virtual edition.

The organisers of ZIMEC 2021, notably the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development, Ministry of Energy, Chamber of Mines, Zambia in partnership with AME Trade Ltd, have decided for the safety of participants to organise this year’s edition online.

According to information made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, ZIMEC 2021, will feature a virtual exhibition, a networking application allowing for participants to contact each other directly and private meeting rooms.

AME Trade Limited marketing executive Graciela Silva said the main theme of ZIMEC 2021 will be “Dialogue and partnerships – unlocking investment, recovery and growth.”

She said this pertinent theme will examine the challenges of the relationship between the public and private sector, the financial recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and how to secure investment in post pandemic mining and energy sectors.

The conference sessions will focus on fiscal regimes, diversification of the mining sector, project finance, sustainability, environmental issues, the mining value chain, the downstream petroleum sector, innovation, and technology.

ZIMEC has welcomed more than 500 exhibitors and 5,000 delegates since its inception, the organisers of virtual edition, expect to return to the live event format in May 2022, in Kitwe.

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The Zambia International Mining and Energy Conference

Agribusiness

It is now undeniable that Beef, Poultry and generally the meat business is big business. The demand both in Zambia and the export market even to the neighboring countries keeps on expanding. So, why are Zambian’s with all the available land and suitable weather and climatic conditions not taking advantage of this lucrative and expanding market?

Experts are saying that Zambia needs to aggressively expand veterinary services and build more centers that farmers can easily take their animals or birds if the country is to realize the goal of becoming a net exporter of meat and meat products.

Livestock experts argue that just like human population growth is aided by provision of more hospitals and clinics to adequately deal with infant mortality and disease, so do animals also. Moreover, aggressive growth of the livestock sector will take to take on board small scale farmers who will need these veterinary and extension support services for their animal and bird populations to thrive.

A check with the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock through Permanent Secretary Dr. Benson Mwenya revealed that there is a lot of room for improvement in the provision of veterinary services as the country seeks to increase the animal population.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Dr. Mwenya said a country that has many animals should expect to have many diseases, therefore there is need to increase the number of veterinary hospitals if livestock population is to increase.

Dr. Mwenya said the ministry is focusing on putting up veterinary services in places that have a high animal population. He acknowledged that the country does not have enough veterinarians and most of the veterinary hospitals are private owned and are concentrated where there are many animals.

He said that Zambia has five regional veterinary laboratories and had veterinary offices in every district, which look at animal diseases, outbreaks and diagnostics.

“One is in Ndola which is not yet completed, one in Mongu, another in Kasama, Isoka, Choma and Chipata, these are regional laboratories, that’s what we have as a government”, he said.

He said the biggest laboratory in the country is the Central Veterinary Research Institute where samples are taken from district veterinary offices to do the analysis and once results are ready, they are sent back to the districts.

He added that government set up regional veterinary facilities so that instead of district offices taking samples to the Central Veterinary Research Institute, people can take their samples taken to the regional laboratories, which saves time and animal lives.

Dr. Mwenya said government tries to marry the number of animals to the facilities, therefore it focuses on putting up more veterinary facilities in places that have a high animal population, but it is now trying to put up livestock service centres in every corner of the country in order to improve service delivery and leverage the potential in some areas that have not historically had huge animal populations.

He mentioned that there are a few vet camps compared to agricultural camps, adding that some of these vet camps are huge, so government is planning to demarcate them into smaller camps so that veterinary personnel maintain each camp.

“We need to increase our animal population because we need to meet the demand and consume more milk and meat than we are consuming right now for nutritional purposes. Zambia can even start exporting and earn foreign exchange because there is a market outside”, he said.

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It is now undeniable that Beef, Poultry

Markets

The Capital Markets Association of Zambia – CMAZ has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that will see the two organizations partner and leverage the synergies that has previously not been fully exploited for the growth and development of capital markets in Zambia.

CMAZ Secretary who is also the Managing Director of Altus Capital Cecilia Siabusu said the country as a whole is lacking when it comes to financial literacy and the association would like to partner with ZBT to further educate the masses about the various products and services that are available for them.

Siabusu said many industries have been crippled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and as an association, CMAZ has continued to emphasize the need for people to save and invest for a rainy day.

Speaking during the MOU signing ceremony, Siabusu said people that have invested are not struggling as much as those who did not invest or prepare for such a time, therefore the need to educate and share information with more people on the importance of investing and the role that capital markets play.

She said the association wants to make the public aware of the various products and services that members of CMAZ are providing through this partnership with ZBT, as that will be one of the solutions to reducing the impact of the economic challenges people are facing during this period.

“Almost Everybody knows that they can have a bank savings account and everybody thinks that’s one way of saving but look at inflation now, inflation is over 20%, so if you are solely relying on money in a bank account, in the next one year, whatever amount you put aside will not be enough to buy you the things that you wanted”.

“However, if you are financially literate and aware of some of the products or solutions available, you would know that if you invested your money in the capital markets or in unit trusts, the interest you get will be around 20%, so you protect and maintain your purchasing power”, she said.

Speaking during the same event, ZBT General Manager Donald Mumba said the partnership aims to effectively contribute specifically to the growth of capital markets and generally deepening of financial literacy in Zambia.

Mumba said the need for establishing a developed and efficient capital market cannot be over emphasized if Zambia is to develop, therefore this partnership aims to contribute and add another chapter to the country’s desire to attain a faster paced development journey.

He said ZBT aims to partner with CMAZ to effectively contribute to the deepening of capital markets offerings as well as provide an independent platform for assessment and communication of credible and relevant information.

“ZBT as a business and professional media platform that has a print newspaper, a state of the art website as well as an active social media bundles via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter now has a reach of over 200k (200,000) unique people per month. This MOU with CMAZ will enable sharing of critical and cutting edge knowledge of financial markets in Zambia to reach the existing audience and well as filter through to the general public”, Mumba stated.

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The Capital Markets Association of Zambia -