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Mining

The Engineering Institute of Zambia – EIZ has identified serious shortcomings in the operations of Vedanta owned Konkola Copper Mines – KCM following its recent happenings. KCM operates mines in Chingola at Nchanga and Konkola at Chililabombwe.

Addressing the media in Lusaka on May 23rd, 2019 attended by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, EIZ President Eng. Sydney Matamwandi has cited neglected skills transfer and development, deploying under qualified expatriate personal without the requisite competences in sensitive key management and operational positions by the mining firm.

Matamwandi has further disclosed that the mining company has neglected to complete the Konkola deep mining project resulting into serious shortage of feed into the smelter saying the project would have added significant value to the mining company while creating sustainable employment for citizens.

He has however described the current operations at KCM as regrettable and has observed that the tendency by the mining firm of importing spare parts that could be procured within the country has caused loss of business.

“You may be aware that KCM among all the copper mines in Zambia sits on the whole with the best grade of copper so the future of copper mining in Zambia is at KCM and what happens at KCM affects the mining industry especially that mining is the main stay of our economy,” he said.

He further said Zambia should use the above shortcomings if the viability of the mining operation under the next investor is to be assured and has since urged government to consider investors with skill and financial capabilities in choosing who to run KCM.

Matamwandi further revealed that the institution has commenced engagement with key stakeholders to discuss the above in detail as well as assist in formulating a set of requirements that should be embedded into any agreement to be entered with the potential investors. He is however was hopeful that the lessons learnt will guide the decision for the national going forward.

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The Engineering Institute of Zambia - EIZ

Mining

The Lusaka High Court has signed off an order in which shareholder – ZCCM Investment Holdings has been grated a  the court order to appoint National Airports Board member Milingo Lungu of Messrs Lungu Simwanza and company as provisional liquidator of Konkola Copper Mine – KCM PLC until the conclusion of the hearing of the petition or further order.

ZCCM investment Holdings had today 21st May 2019 filed in an application to the High Court for an ex parte order appointing provisional liquidator for the mentioned appointment to which the high court has signed.

According to the order seen by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, the Liquidator (Milingo Lungu) will have the following powers: To carry on the business of the respondent company as far as is necessary for the beneficial winding up, make any compromises or arrangements with creditors.

Other powers include to make all agreement on any questions in any way relating to or affecting the company or any of its asserts, to take possession and custody of all asserts of the respondent and bring or defend any action or other illegal proceedings in the name and or on behalf of the respondent.

The liquidator will also have powers to dispose of asserts by public tender or the most transparent manner under the circumstance and to sell the real property and things in action of the respondent by public auction public tender or private contract.

ZBT will keep you updated on the KCM developments…

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The Lusaka High Court has signed off

Sport

The National Olympic Committee Zambia (NOCZ) has sent two Zambian athletes Banny Muziyo (boxer) and Steven Mungandu (Judo) to France to attend a year long training camp in preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualifying.

The two athletes are recipient of the Olympic Solidarity Scholarship offered by the International Olympic committee and will be based at the Regional Center Youth and Sports in Yerville France. The International Olympic committee has catered for all the expenses of the athletes including accommodation and transport.

Their Scholarships will run from 1st May 2019 till May 2020 hence the high performance training camp will enable them to take part in the qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Speaking during the sendoff ceremony at the Kenneth Kaunda International airport, NOCZ Secretary General Boniface Kambikambi urged the athletes to be at their best behavior and train hard towards qualifying for Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

He also urged them to work hard and represent Zambia well. He said language barrier will not be a problem as must of the activities will be conducted in English. “We are happy for this opportunity given to our athletes by the International Olympic Committee to trains our two boys and prepare them for the qualification of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. I would just like to urge the boys to work hard as they are not only representing themselves but the country as a all,” he said.

And Judo athlete Steven Mungandu said he is proud to be given this opportunity and does not take the opportunity lightly. He says the two athletes will do their best and ensure that they qualify for the Tokyo 2020 olympics.

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The National Olympic Committee Zambia (NOCZ) has

Markets

Government [through its relevant wings such as Bank of Zambia] should create a mechanism which will eliminate shortage of foreign currency – forex in the Zambian financial markets adding that regulation on export earnings should be revisited.
This will ensure that for all exports from Zambia, payments in US dollars or other convertible international currencies are made to Zambian Banks in order to recapitalize the economy to about US$ 22 million per day adding that Zambia is exporting a lot of products whose total exports bill is about US$ 8 billion.
Private Sector Development Association – PSDA President Yusuf Dodia says the increase in year on year inflation rate will slowly affect Zambia’s economic development and the productivity levels as the country is already experiencing a shortage in foreign currency.

According to the Central Statistical Office, the year on year inflation rate for the month of April 2019 has increased to 7.7 percent from 7.5 recorded in March 2019.

PSDA president told Zambia Business Times – ZBT in an exclusive interview that the 0.2 difference recorded from March to April 2019 has high chances of leading the inflation rate to double digit figures as the country’s performance in productivity is already low.

Dodia also mentioned that ZESCO’s proposal to increase electricity tariff if approved by ERB, will lead to the increase in inflation as it will increase the cost of doing business on the market hence affect the growth of the domestic economy in the country.

“There’s need to understand that ZESCO is not a profitable commercial entity but an entity created to support economic development in the country, so if ZESCO decides to increase the electricity tariff it means its not helping or supporting the growth of the nation because the 100% increase in tariffs  will not only affect people’s lives at household level but also affect the business industry as prices in goods and services will also increase,” he said.

He added that the production of goods and services is facilitated through access to electricity, therefore ZESCO should never be looked at as a company whose sole purpose is to make a profit but a company that should support the growth of the nation by providing affordable electricity to people at an affordable rate.

He has however stressed the need by government to go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate the reason of turning public utilities and monopolies into commercial entities as they have potential to undermine the growth of the economy.

“Copying and pasting from other countries will not control situations in our country, as Zambia has its own unique structure and needs hence the need to look at Zambia as an independent country which has certain development needs that government institutions must provide,” he said.

The proposed Zesco tariff hike has since been put on ice. Instead, the cost of service evaluation report has now been revived which is expected shed light on any areas that the electricity utility can look as to improve efficiency and deliver internal cost saves that can be passed on to domestic consumers.

Some members of the public and some former employees of Zesco have indicated that the utility has a bloated workforce, with low to non existent internal performance management. The argument is that with an efficient system, from generation, transmission and distribution, the utility can improve its cash flows and profitability matrices.

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Government [through its relevant wings such as

Markets

Atlas Mara Limited, the sub-Saharan African financial services group, has announced that it has entered into a binding term sheet with Equity Group Holding (ECG) for the exchange of certain banking assets of the Company in four countries for ordinary shares in EGH (the “Proposed Transaction”). The Proposed transaction is subject to confirmatory due diligence and relevant regulatory approvals.

As part of the Proposed Transaction, EGH would acquire Atlas Mara’s 62% shareholding in Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR) and, via the Company’s subsidiary ABC Holdings Limited, all of Atlas Mara’s indirect interests in African Banking Corporation Zambia (BancABC Zambia), African Banking Corporation Tanzania (BancABC Tanzania), and African Banking Corporation Mozambique (BancABC Mozambique). The parties would anticipate mergers of their respective banks within each of Rwanda and Tanzania.

Subject to regulatory approval, the individual transactions are expected to close between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020, depending on jurisdiction.

Commenting on the Proposed Transaction, James Koni, Managing Director for Atlas Mara Zambia said, “As Atlas Mara Zambia we are very excited about this new partnership for Atlas Mara Zambia. Equity Group Holdings Plc (EGH), which is a large diverse financial services conglomerate has a customer base in excess of 9.2 million in six East & Central African countries, namely Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Tanzania, making it one of the largest commercial banks on the African continent by customer numbers.

Equity group is a renowned Bank and has won a number of global accolades. It is ranked by the top 1000 Banker as number 11 globally on return on assets, also ranked number 35 on soundness of capital. The group is rated AA by Moody `s an international rating agency. AA is the second highest investment grade rating after AAA.

Much more importantly Equity Bank is the most innovation Bank and has delivered strong financial inclusion and customer service using technology in East Africa. Our partnership with Equity Group Holdings Plc will give us an opportunity to further consolidate the good work we have done so far for our stakeholders. Equity Group Holdings Plc is a power house for innovation and Digital Banking. This will firmly position Atlas Mara Zambia to bring first class digital banking to Zambia”.

He further stated that this change is at shareholding level and will have no immediate impact on the day to day operations of the Bank .He also confirmed that they will be no loss of employment for Atlas Mare employees. As a matter of fact, we should expect to see further expansion in other financial services such as Insurance and brokerage to provide a holistic financial services.

The new partnership with Equity Group Holdings Plc will also presents a great opportunity for us to adopt best technology and product innovation utilising the expertise from Equity’s unique business model, which offers a tried and tested pathway for growth through innovation.’

However, analysts expect that the top local management teams will have some level of shake up. Like most acquisitions, the top management in the acquired Atlas Mara will face evaluation and there is bound to be some key changes as the new owners may look at taking control and infusing their corporate culture into the acquired operations.

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Atlas Mara Limited, the sub-Saharan African financial

Companies

The Zambia Airports Corporation Limited – ZACL has recorded a reduction of 19,140 passers at its four international airports in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the same period last year.

The corporation recorded a total number of 394,821 general passengers this year, down from 413,961 in the first quarter of 2018 at all four international airports namely Kenneth Kaunda – KKIA, Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe – SMKIA, Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula – HMNIA and Mfuwe.

In a statement made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Zambia Airport Communications and Brand Manager Mweembe Sikaulu said general managers include both arriving and departing passengers, transit passengers, domestic and international passenger.

The records indicate that there were 66,353 domestic passengers that passed through
the airports in quarter one of 2019 in comparison to 66,729 in the first quarter of 2018 resulting in a decrease of -0.6 per cent adding that Similarly international passengers decreased by 18,764 resulting in a decline of -5.4 per cent increment compared to 2018.

Sikaulu said the notable factors that were attributed for the decline include cancellation of scheduled flights during this quarter by Kenya Airways, South African Airways and Ethiopian Airways each owing to various factors.

In addition, she said the continued suspension of flights by Fastjet Airlines to Dar-es-Salaam and Proflight to Harare also contributed to decline in passengers.

“The general Passenger Movement Performance by Airports indicate that Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport grew by 3.8% compared to the same period last year. The other airports namely Kenneth Kaunda, Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe and Mfuwe International Airports declined by -6.1%, -4.1% and -11.6% respectively compared to the same period last year,” she said.

Meanwhile, on the Aircraft Movement during the first quarter of 2019, Sikaulu told ZBT that a total of 11,319 aircraft movements were recorded at the four international airports in Lusaka, Livingstone, Ndola and Mfuwe compared 10,833 aircraft movements recorded in the same period last year indicating a growth of 4.5%.

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The Zambia Airports Corporation Limited - ZACL

Agribusiness

Musika Zambia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Zambia – UNZA School of Agricultural Sciences aimed at supporting the development and implementation of the entrepreneurial skills training enhanced programme, an initiative by the school of Agricultural Sciences.

Speaking during the signing ceremony held UNZA main campus in Lusaka on May 15th, 2019, Musika Managing Director Reuben Banda said the partnership with the school will demonstrate Musika’s role of stimulating the development of a supportive market environment that provides sustainable opportunities for small holder farmers and entrepreneurs imaging from this programme.

He added that Musika’s financial and technical support to the school of Agricultural sciences is meant to strengthen staff capacities to deliver entrepreneurial training, support the costs associated with conducting a skill need assessment for student and develop an entrepreneurship course module appropriate for implementing the programme.

“As a Zambian owned non-profitable company, our development approach focuses on changing market systems that sow the greatest existing opportunity for pro-poor growth,” he said.

Speaking at the same event UNZA Vice Chancellor Professor Luke Tembo has commended Musika and the School of Agricultural Science for working together in supporting entrepreneurial skills among students and that the school will give maximum support for the benefit of students and the farming community.

He said the entrepreneurial skills training enhanced programme has the potential to catalyze a substantive shift in curriculum development of education institutions resulting in an increased number of students optioning to become entrepreneurs in agribusinesses adding that the activity to be focused on, will be the enhancement of entrepreneurial skills training in the School of Agricultural Sciences.

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Musika Zambia has signed a Memorandum of

Tech

The Road Transport and Safety Agency – RTSA has embarked on a devolution programme of piloting issuance of motor vehicles licensing to selected local authorities across the country.

The scope of the devolution programmes cover motor vehicles and trailer licensing which shall be delegated to selected local authorities especially in areas without RTSA offices.

Confirming the development to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, RTSA Head of Public Relation Fredrick Mubanga said the agency has since selected 16 local authorizes across the country earmarked for the devolution programme of piloting issuance of motor vehicle licensing (Road Tax).

The selected areas for devolution are Mkushi, Serenje and Mumbwa in Central Province, Lundazi, Petauke in Eastern Province, Mbala in Northern Province, Mwense and Kawambwa in Luapula Province, Kabompo, Zambezi and Mwinilunga in North western Province, Kaoma and Senanga in Western Province and Kafue in Lusaka Province.

He added that the agency shall also assign vehicle examiners to undertake physical inspection and examination of motor vehicles for roadworthiness.

“ The trajectory of the devolution programme is in line with the long-term plan that expresses the aspirations of the Zambian people to live in a strong and dynamic middle-income industrial nation that provides opportunities for improving the well being of all to be achieved by harnessing opportunities for economic growth,” he said.

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The Road Transport and Safety Agency –

Markets

Prominent Lusaka based economist Professor Oliver Saasa is concerned with the speed at which Zambia is contracting debt saying it is likely to harm the country’s economy.

Last week, Minister of Finance Margret Mwanakatwe announced during the update on economic development that the country’s external debt stock for the first quarter of 2019 marginally increased to US$ 10.178 billion from US$ 10.05 billion at end of 2018 while the domestic debt stock at end of March 2019 was K58.21 billion down from K58.26 billion recorded at end of 2018.

Prof Saasa told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT in an interview that the slight increase in external debt is an indication that the economy is slowly being chocked and that if the situation is not taken care of, the economy will completely flop.

He said the country’s external debt commitments are very high and likely to affect the cost of production and investment in many sectors hence result in the increase in the cost of living for many Zambians.

“We need to understand that when there is crisis in an economy, the cost of living goes up due to insufficient funds , people that are supposed to receive payments or salaries are delayed and the cost of doing business on the market goes up because of the changes in prices of goods and services and inflation is the worst enemy to any economic growth prospects,” he said.

He added that the country’s reserves at the central bank are dwindling and can not last the country for more than two months import cover adding that, Zambia would not survive if a crisis emanated in the economy hence the need to quickly attend to this matter without looking forward to contracting more debt.

Meanwhile, the finance minister also announced that the country’s reserves position at end of February 2019 was US$ 1. 43 billion, down from US$ 1.56 million at end of December 2018.

Prof Saasa has however urged government to reduce on expenditure and cut down on contracting new debt under the current situation and has noted the need to cut down expenditure at some departments at the various ministries that are a financial threat or not adding value at this point in time.

He has further emphasized on need of growing the economy and facilitating private sector growth if the country is to develop.

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Prominent Lusaka based economist Professor Oliver Saasa

Markets

The Bank of China Zambia Limited says it is renewing its commitment to the Zambia Development Agency – ZDA to help promote Zambia as the ideal investment destination as bilateral trade between the two countries continues to increase.

Bank of China Managing Director Qi Wang says his bank chose Zambia as the first growth destination in Africa because of the stable political environment, great weather and the great hospitality of the Zambian people.

Wang notes that the bank has an international network in over 60 countries in the world, including China, where Zambian businesses can access funds for investment. He noted that the improved infrastructure development in transport and communication is creating an attractive environment for foreign direct investments – FDI.

The Managing Director reiterated that the bank of China has renewed its commitment to help promote Zambia as the ideal investment destination through programmes such as Forum on China-Africa Cooperation – FOCAC as the trade volumes between the two countries continues to increase.

Wang was speaking when his team paid a courtesy call on the Zambia Development Agency, in response to the call to work with the ZDA Chinese Desk for Joint Venture partnerships and trade.

“As both countries are agricultural nations, the Bank of China is committed to providing technological transfer in agriculture and manufacturing to reduce poverty in Zambia. We need to encourage Zambians to be more aggressive in promoting strategic products such as honey and services such as tourism to China during events such as the upcoming China International Import Expo” said Bank of China MD.

Meanwhile the Zambia Development Agency Acting Director General Matongo Matamwandi thanked the bank of China for paying a courtesy call on the Agency and for their support and commitment to Investment promotion in the country.

Matamwandi explained that he sees the Bank as an extended team of the Investment promotions of the ZDA. “We need the support of the bank in our follow-ups to actualise pledged investments through targeted pitches as a new strategic approach for the Agency,” explained the Acting Director General.

He revealed that ZDA is looking for Green Investments and Pioneer Industries such as investment into Nuclear Energy which can be exported into the region and earn Zambia the much needed Forex. The acting Director General pledged intercultural training for new Chinese Investors to help bridge the cultural differences and to also help Zambians learn international business cultural etiquette.

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The Bank of China Zambia Limited says