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Mining

The Mine Workers Union of Zambia-MUZ has disclosed that it has resolved to take a lead in participating in mining activities in order to create job opportunities for its members and local Zambians.

Union President Joseph Chewe said the union has been representing and protecting workers’ interest and the country at large in terms of beneficiation for some time now which has not benefited a lot of its members hence the need to acquire a mine that will support members.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Chewe said the union has resolved to acquire a mine in Northwestern Province and is only waiting for the Cadastre to open so that it can push for its exploration license.

Chewe said so far, the union has received favourable response from both government officials and the royal highnesses on the plans to acquire a mine in the province.

He said the Chiefs in Northwestern province have shown delight in the plans by indigenous Zambians to be present in mining activities and create jobs which will to some extent compete with some foreign investors.

The Union representative said the ultimate goal of the union is to create jobs as a local investor and hopefully stakeholders who are Zambians, government and any other investor group will support the move.

Chewe said the investment and the number of jobs that are to be created will only be disclosed once the union acquires an exploration license as he feared that some people might want to sabotage the plans.

He mentioned that what will be mined will depend on the minerals that will be found adding that the country is blessed with a lot of minerals and the union will go with the flow of the minerals available.

“We don’t want to disclose more information on our plans because we know there are some people that want to sabotage us”, he stressed.

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The Mine Workers Union of Zambia-MUZ has

Tech

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.

 

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Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Chipoka

Agribusiness

Wonderful Group of Companies has disclosed that it has completed phase one of the construction of the United Capital Fertilizer Manufacturing Plant and is ready to start test operations.

Company Board Member Roy Mwamba said the first phase of production will start next week noting that the company has two production lines and the plant has a capacity of over 300, 000 metric tonnes.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Mwamba noted that the fertilizer plant is one of the few in the world to be completed in six months especially considering the fact that the construction of the plant took place during the rainy season.

He said phase one of the project has been completed and phase two is yet to be completed adding that one of the production lines will be using coal which will be sourced locally as one of the raw materials for the production of fertilizer.

Mwamba had earlier told ZBT that the US$300 million local fertilizer plant will cut the importation of fertilizer for Zambia by about 60% and reduce the cost of fertilizer by about 40% due to use of local raw materials and economies of scale.

He said once the plant is operational, the company would be able to supply 80% of the total percentage of urea demand and 60% of the total percentage of D compound required for the country adding that all the raw materials, which include coal and phosphate, would be acquired locally in Southern Province and the plant will create about 1,100 direct jobs.

The Board Member further stated that 60% of the investment funds are being sourced from financial institutions outside Zambia with 40% being sourced locally, adding that US$ 20 million from the US$ 300 million is working capital for the first two years as per draft cash flows.

Mwamba said the fertilizer manufacturing company would have a production capacity of 135, 000 metric tonnes per annum for fertilizer and 80,000 metric tonnes per annum for ammonia bicarbonate.

He said the company would have a robust and state of the art integrated cross-circuit production process such that there will be no emission of either smoke or gasses and the smoke will be converted into a gas by-product, for which the company already has a captive market.

Mwamba added that the gas produced in the production process and other by-products that come out of the production of ammonia bicarbonate can be used in the production of fire extinguishers and baking powder.

He stated that apart from reducing the prices of fertilizer, the manufacturing plant would also enhance agriculture activities, which is what the country currently needs noting that the company would be producing ammonia that would be supplied to Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ), and these raw materials are currently imported.

Mwamba further said that currently, every fertilizer manufacturing company in Zambia imports raw materials, mostly from South Africa. The new plant would be producing ammonia as a by-product, therefore there will be no need to continue importing from South Africa, thus boosting the production for local companies such as NCZ.

 

 

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Wonderful Group of Companies has disclosed that

Agribusiness

The Crushers and Edible Oil Refiners Association (CEDORA) says it has acquired about 250, 000 metric tonnes of soya beans that it will process into cooking oil locally.

Association Director Aubrey Chibumba said atleast 45, 000 metric tonnes of refined cooking oil would be processed from the 250, 000 metric tonnes soya beans.

He noted that the country’s demand for cooking oil is about 200, 000 metric tonnes per year and the country only produces around 80, 000 metric tonnes of cooking oil and the rest is imported as refined cooking oil.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Chibumba added that the country imports around 120, 000 metric tonnes of refined cooking oil every year in order to meet the demand.

Chibumba mentioned that the country produced about 410, 000 metric tonnes of soya beans in the last season and of that quantity, about 40, 000 metric tonnes was earmarked for export but only 20, 000 metric tonnes was exported.

He explained that there was a balance of 20, 000 metric tonnes left from what was earmarked for exports and it was all finished therefore the country consumed around 380,000 metric tonnes of soya beans last year.

Chibumba said the expectation is that this year’s consumption should increase adding that this year the country may consume between 400, 000 and 430, 000 metric tonnes of soya beans.

Some Oilseed stakeholders had resolved to export 100, 000 metric tonnes of raw soya beans, a decision CEDORA is against because the country has installed capacity to process all the soya produced this year.

Chibumba had earlier told the ZBT that the association members currently have installed capacity of a million tonnes of soya, so the country can process the whole 475, 000 metric tonnes of  soya beans that has been produced this year, but some people in the value chain need to trade soya beans for their own reasons or interests.

He explained that it is understandable that everyone in the value chain has to benefit but the association members have invested over $500 million to put up crushing and manufacturing facilities in Zambia but people who have not made any investment are trying to dictate what happens in the sector, which should not be allowed.

“In every other sector, the emphasis is on value addition so why should this be different, we have got the capacity to process all the produce but we don’t want to look as if we are trying to manipulate the prices, so we understand that a reasonable quantity of beans could be exported”, he said.

 

 

 

 

 

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The Crushers and Edible Oil Refiners Association

Mining

Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane has yet again given mining companies more tax exemptions by suspending import taxes on mining equipment and machinery. This is additional to the making of mineral royalty tax deductible which resulted in the country losing about $200 million in lost revenue.

Mineral Royalty Tax (MRT) was introduced to bring certain loss making mining companies on the tax base as most mining corporations were declaring losses and the tax authorities have no capacity to find loopholes in their tax declarations, which made it difficult to tax the mines.

However, the UPND government in the 2022 budget gave mining companies a tax holiday by reintroducing deductibility of the mineral royalty tax, a move stakeholders described as retrogressive and government has continued to give more concessions to mines which only benefit the mines.

According to Statutory Instrument (SI) No. 50 of 2022 obtained by the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, a rebate, refund or remission of the whole or any  part of the duty paid or payable shall be granted to a holder of a mining right.

This is in respect of a mining plant, mining machinery, mining equipment and other goods used in mining operations, other than spare parts thereof, imported or taken out of bond by that holder of a mining right.

The document further states that a holder of a mining right who intends to claim for a rebate, refund or remission of duty shall provide the Commissioner General with details of the mining right, the activities carried out in relation to the mining right.

Other details to be provided include the nature and quantity, substantive tariff description and classification in the customs tariff and customs value of the goods in respect of which the rebate, refund or remission is sought.

In addition, a holder of a mining right shall complete a declaration in Form CE 25 set out in the Eighth Schedule and the goods in respect of which a refund, rebate or remission is granted under this regulation, shall not be sold or otherwise disposed of without the prior consent of the Commissioner-General and payment of the duty thereon at the rate leviable on the goods at the date of the sale or disposal.

The Commissioner-General may for the purpose of determining the amount of duty payable on the goods sold or disposed of take into consideration the depreciation of the goods from the date of importation or removal from bond, and shall remit the duty if the sale or disposal is effected more than five years after the date on which the rebate, refund or remission was granted.

For the purposes of this regulation, “holder of a mining right” means a person granted a mining right in accordance with the Mines and  Minerals Development Act, 2015; and “other goods used in mining operations” shall include a transmission or conveyor belt of subheading 5910.00.10, dumpers designed for off- highway use of subheading 8704.10.00, conveyors of subheading 8428.31.00 to 8428.90.00 and mine locomotives of subheadings 8601.10.10 and 8601.20.10.

 

 

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Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane has yet again

Lifestyle

Chibombo District Commissioner-DC Lloyed Kayeke has admitted to using a Yes/No criteria as a way of selecting enumerators for the 2022 Census of Population and Housing.

The District Commissioner has been accused of including his preferred individuals on the final list of enumerators that were picked for the 2022 census due to the method used to select enumerators. The DC wrote Yes, No on pieces of papers, put the papers in a box, and asked the applicants to each pick one piece of paper and all those that picked No were left out. This criterion has been condemned as some of the applicants that were shortlisted on the first list were left out on the final list.

Kayeke said there was overwhelming response from individuals who wanted the job and the District Commissioner felt that was the only way for him and his team to pick from the various applicants that were more than the number needed.

When asked why the DC did not just pick the applicants with the highest marks as the candidates wrote aptitude tests, Kayeke stated that him and his team thought that was the best option in that circumstance.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Kayeke said no complaints from individuals that picked No could be addressed now and the issue cannot be rectified because everyone that picked yes was deployed into their respective wards.

Kayeke further said the only correction that was made was deploying people to places where they had asked to be deployed in an event that the selected individuals were deployed to places they did not apply to work from.

He added that the complaints would have been addressed if they had been taken to his office earlier.

“I did not put in any of my own people, you know when you are dealing with people who have passed but they are more than what a ward required, to be fair that was the exercise I advised-Yes/No”, he said.

 

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Chibombo District Commissioner-DC Lloyed Kayeke has admitted

Companies

Katete District Commissioner Malan Zimba has disclosed that works on the construction of the Katete Fruit Processing plant are progressing well and all works will be completed in the next one month.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Zimba said the plant would be processing fruits such as mangoes, oranges, guavas, watermelons and tomatoes that will be used to produce tomato sauce among other fruits.

Zimba explained that this would create direct employment for the farmers, as it will be an all year round project and the small-scale farmers will be able to buy irrigation materials which will enable them grow their crops all year round once they begin supplying their produce to the company throughout the year.

He mentioned that the company would employ over 250 people for a start adding that the number will keep on increasing as the demand grows which means the livelihoods of many people will change, as the benefits will cut across many sectors.

The District Commissioner mentioned that the work would have been completed earlier but the team working on the construction of the plant had gone to Mwinilunga, North Western province to complete the works on the Kalene Hills Fruit Processing Company, which was, was commissioned on 27 July 2022.

“The works are almost done, we are at 99%, very soon they will be handing it over. The machinery was already fit, just connecting machines to the grid is what is remaining, not the actual construction works, the actual construction works are done, it’s just the fitting of electricals”, he said.

 

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Katete District Commissioner Malan Zimba has disclosed

Agribusiness

Government has awarded Alpha Commodities a Fertiliser supply deal valued at $65 million despite graft accusations as well as inflating of quoted prices, allegations which were never investigated or cleared by competent governance institutions.

Alpha commodities, whose Director and main shareholder Maurice Jangulo is linked to Information Minister Chushi Kasanda had been accused of not declaring interest, a situation which has still not been cleared as to how government business can be conducted without raising public concerns.

According to a notice of best evaluated bidders seen by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Ministry of Agriculture Head of Procurement Anon Madima, Government has announced a list of companies and supply contract amounts intention to award the supply and delivery of about 260,000 metric tonnes of urea and compound D fertilizer to six companies for the 2022/2023 agricultural season.

Alpha Commodities has been awarded a contract to supply fertilizer valued at $66 million for the 2022/2023 Agro season. The total value of contracts awarded amounts to about $226 million. Conspicuously mission from the list is Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia – NCZ which has last time supplied cheaper priced fertilizer which exposed the inflated prices of Alpha Commodities.

Questions have been raised concerning government’s decision to award a contract to Maurice Jangulo’s Alpha Commodities as the company was accused of supplying 37, 000 tonnes of fertilizers at what was considered as inflated price of $1, 407 per tonne while the general market price was $1, 000 per tonne during the 2021/2022 agricultural season.

Alpha Commodities, a company which has Maurice Jangulo who is also husband to Minister of Information and Media Chushi Kasanda’s had earlier confirmed to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that it supplied fertilizer to the government in the 2020/2021 farming season under the Farmer Input Support Programme-FISP but however declined to give any details on the pricing.

An employee from Alpha commodities had confirmed supplying fertilizer to the government during the previous agriculture season 2021/2022 but could not confirm the quantities or at what price the fertilizer was supplied. A parliamentary statement by Agro minister Ntolo Phiri confirmed that the higher purchase price per ton paid to Alpha commodities was because the procurement had been done in haste. No former investigations by an independent governance institution have been done or publicly reported.

see other reports on https://zambianbusinesstimes.com/alpha-commodities-mute-over-allegations-of-supplying-over-priced-fertilizer/

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Government has awarded Alpha Commodities a Fertiliser

Mining

There is urgent need for the government which is now the majority owner through ZCCM IH to resolve the recapitalization and financing needs of Mopani Copper Mines, the major anchor company supporting the economies of both Kitwe and Mufulira on the Copperbelt.

The Mine Union of Zambia-MUZ- are asking for the government to find an urgent solution to the issues surrounding Mopani Copper Mine which had indicated that it needed financing of about $300 million to continue with its operations after credit and financing lines secured under former owner Glencore were dropped.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, MUZ President Joseph Chewe urged President Hakainde Hichilema’s administration to look at the issues surrounding the Mopani Copper Mine as they require urgent solutions.

Chewe explained most workers in some contracting companies have not been paid for six months now, a situation he said it brings serious concerns and confusions to the union and its members. The MUZ President told ZBT that most of the Union members have families to look after, hence the need to look at this matter as urgent.

He said urgent attention to the issues surrounding Mopani will also help the general business environment on the Copperbelt as the two mines, Mopani and KCM are the key Companies which several communities depend on for their survival.

Chewe said MUZ main interest is to safeguard the mine and saving jobs, adding that what was needed was is to see which model Mopani would take since departure of Glencore. “After Glencore decided to abandon the mine at a difficult time, we wanted first to safe guard the mine and the jobs. Had it not been for that, the mine could have been closed by now and there was going to be no Mopani to talk about today.” He said.

Due to the continued delay in finding lasting solutions for both Mopani and KCM, the liquidity situation on the Copperbelt has continued to deteriorate, with most businesses and people complaining of no money in circulation.

Zambia had relied on the Copperbelt from time of independence until the mines in the North Western Province came on stream about a decade ago. The Copperbelt has a size-able population, boasting of housing key towns and cities of Zambia such as Kitwe and Ndola. The region remains a key mining and industrial hub of Zambia which needs urgent and special attention from government. Efforts to get a comment from ZCCM IH proved futile by time of publishing.

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There is urgent need for the government

Lifestyle

For Zambia to develop, its greatest assets are its people who need to venture into business, develop products and brands, grab a share of the local market and eventually start exporting. With the youths making up the majority of the adult population, youth entrepreneurship is therefore cardinal to leveraging this demographic dividend.

One such example is a 31 year old Lusaka based youthful entrepreneur has developed his own shoe brand with the Zambian touch label called “Yama Mfumu Che” which is currently creating waves and selling in Lusaka.

Raphael Phiri, an Environmental Engineering graduate from the Copperbelt University – CBU who started his university education in 2011 and completed in 2017 told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that he started his business while at CBU, adding that everything running now was birthed from his government meal allowances (commonly called BC) and other little funds he could raise from his family that were meant for sustainability.

He said the dream and goal behind the shoe brand was to create something that has the Zambian culture in it from the brand name and quality identity. The youthful entrepreneur stated that he has managed to create employment of up to ten (10) people with both the clothing store and the shoe store.

Thr “Yama Mfumu Che” shoe brand has been able to to sale up to 30 pairs of shoes from the first 100 samples that were open for sale last week going at K980 per pair. This is a competitive price when one looks at the quality of the show and how it compares with its imported peers.

He told ZBT that he is looking forward to growing his brand. Currently, his shoe brand revenue potential is developing and he is able to post revenues of up to K20,000 per day on a good day. With more support from Zambians, he plans to grow the brand and employ more fellow youths in the business.

On the challenges encountered, Raphael said, the challenge on the Zambian market is finding accessories with regards to the sowing materials, adding that in Zambia there are no available proper needles and accessories to fix the heal and the inside part of a shoe, which brings in a challenge because most suppliers are so much into smart shoes with limited supply for smart casual shoes.

“For me, my business is build off my passion. I love what I do, it’s easy for me to work late and work up in the wee hours of the morning, it goes beyond the money. You know what they say, find what you love and you don’t have to pay for it. I am enjoying it and getting paid for it”, he added.

The Yama Mfumu Che founder has since encouraged other Zambian young entrepreneurs to continue pushing to make Zambia a great nation through investing in different crafts and passions. Zambia can only be developed by Zambians.

PS – If you are a youth nurturing a business or you know a youth entreprenuer who needs their story to be shared, ZBT has now opened a segment that it will showcase the selected youth entrepreneur at at its cost to support youth entrepreneurship as a solution to Zambia’s economic growth. Send your suggested story to editor@zambianbusinesstimes.com or info@zambianbusinesstimes.com

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For Zambia to develop, its greatest assets