Connect with:
Sunday / April 27.
logo
mobile-logo
HomeStandard Blog Whole Post (Page 97)
Mining

The National Union of Miners and Allied Workers-NUMAW says it is currently engaging its members concerning Vedanta Resources Limited’s offer to come back and run Konkola Copper Mines (KCM).

NUMAW President James Chansa said the union has taken note of what Vedanta Resources has promised and is hoping that government and the Indian mining firm can effectively address the KCM matter.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Chansa said government should critically look at the conditions offered by Vedanta Resources and consult from other key stakeholders in order to find a lasting solution to the matter.

When asked whether the union wants Vedanta back, Chansa said the union, which is a key stakeholder of Konkola Copper Mines, would only give a full report once consultations from its members are done, as that is when they will be able to state their position on the matter.

Chansa noted that the union is looking forward to finding amicable ways of resolving the issues at Konkola Copper Mines.

Vedanta Resources has made its intentions clear concerning wanting to run KCM again and has made some promises which it will fulfill if allowed to operate the mine for a second time.

In a letter dated May 5, 2022, seen by ZBT, addressed to Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Paul Kabuswe, Vedanta Resources CEO Sunil Duggal said the company would pay suppliers owed by KCM, especially small-scale suppliers up to US $ 220 million, which was due as on 21 May 2019 when the Provisional Liquidator was appointed.

Duggal said the company has committed that upon its return, it shall implement a 20% salary increase across the board and a one off payment of K2500 within 3 months of the return after the technical forensic audit of KCM has been completed and review the workers’ conditions of service to ascertain whether there could be room for further adjustments.

He noted that upon KCM’s return to the management of its Board, it shall together with all relevant stakeholders; sit down to draw up a framework of cooperation and sustainable engagement for KCM’s future Corporate Social Responsibility Programmes.

 

 

 

0 Comments
0 likes

The National Union of Miners and Allied

Companies

Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank (ZICB) has partnered with Zed-Kidpreneur for the sponsorship of the Zed-Kidpreneur programme for 2022.

ZICB CEO Ignatius Mwanza said the bank has purchased two laptops, two routers and has provided funding for the implementation of the programme a total sponsorship value of K130. 000.

Speaking during the launch of the programme at Taj Pamodzi Hotel, attended by the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Mwanza said the partnership will offer mentorship and financial literacy training to children aged 18 years and below from all works of life.

He explained that the programme would focus on developing positive entrepreneurial mindsets that are innovative and progressive by using enjoyable child-friendly programmes filled with games, projects, boot camps, quizzes and competitions.

The CEO noted that society has focused on teaching and preparing children for a life of being employees with little investment in preparing them for starting and managing their own businesses and finances.

Mwanza said the partnership with Zed-Kidpreneur programme would endeavor to prepare young participants for the future by introducing them to the basics of finance as well as teaching them about personal financial management.

He added that educating children in financial management would give Zambia a good chance at having a financially literate adult population in future.

“This event is special for Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank Limited because it is in line with our brand promise-Making Tomorrow Possible. The programme that we are launching this morning is focusing on children up to the age of 18 years. We always say and hear that young people are the future leaders”, he said.

Mwanza mentioned that the bank will launch a specific account for children that will introduce them to banking products and services while being interest bearing, easy to operate and maintain and the account will have no charges.

He added that the bank has been providing financial literacy to its SME customers, which it sees as a need across the country and plans to set up a team dedicated to financial literacy in future.

Speaking at the same event, Founder and CEO of Zed-Kidpreneur Chimfwembe Mulenga said Zed-Kidpreneur is an award-winning academy that teaches and mentors children between the ages of 4 to 18 on personal growth topics such as financial literacy, public speaking, entrepreneurship and skills development.

Mulenga noted that the partnership would allow children to participate in financial talks and gain knowledge on topics such as savings, budgeting and investing.

She said Zed-Kidpreneur is looking forward to having financial literacy as a mandatory taught subject in all grades at primary and secondary school level in both government and private schools adding that the vision is to see a Zambia that has young innovators, entrepreneurs and financial experts who contribute greatly to the development of the country.

“Children should be prepared not just for academic exams but for life as well, we need to mould and cultivate a generation of better decision makers and future leaders”, she said.

 

 

 

 

 

0 Comments
0 likes

Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank (ZICB) has partnered

Companies

ZESCO,  Zambia’s energy giant has made an application to the Energy Regulation Board – ERB to increase connection fees by about 500% for domestic consumers and to increase connection fees for commercial customers by about 970%.

According to information obtained by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, ZESCO proposes to increase the connection fees for customers in high density, demarcated and reticulated areas by about 500% from the current K769 to K4,600 for 1 phase overhead, K1, 430  to K15, 300 for 3 phase overhead which is almost an increase of 970% for mostly commercial customers and K890 to K6,800 for 1 phase underground.

The proposed fees for customers in low density, demarcated and reticulated areas have been proposed to increase by about 360% from K2, 873 to K13, 300 for 1 phase overhead standard, K769 to K4, 700 for 1 phase overhead (servant’s quarter), K4, 887 to K28, 800 for 3 phase overhead, K3, 358 to K15, 800 for 1 phase underground and K5, 342 to K34, 300 for 3 phase underground.

The proposed connection fees for customers in un-demarcated high density areas are K1,709 to K7, 000 for 1 phase overhead, K3, 159 to K20, 300 for 3 phase overhead, K2, 124 to K9,000 for 1 phase underground and K3,642 to K24, 600 for 3 phase underground.

ZESCO has indicated its intensions of moving to a cost reflective tariff for both its energy supplies as well as other support services which include connection and service charges.  This exercise of revising upwards to cost reflective tariffs in Zambia is a mirage as the companies costs are US dollar linked.

Zambia’s ministry of finance and the central bank – BOZ has opted to adopt a policy of  having a free floating currency instead of a managed exchange rate, a situation that leads to the perpetual depreciation of the local unit – the Kwacha, resulting in cost reflective increments almost on a year on year  basis. The Regulator ERB is therefore calling for public comments on ZESCO’s application to revise connection fees for 2022.

The Energy Regulation Board received an application from ZESCO Limited to revise connection fees for standard connections. The utility company has applied to revise upwards standard connections related to the three customer categories. The bulk consumers such as mines and export market are made via negotiated deals most of which remain confidential raising suspicion that the largest consumers may be getting a better deal.

Some analyst have challenged ZESCO and the Ministry of Energy to find ways in which Zambians can benefit from its local copper endowments to getting preferential pricing instead of these cost plus prices. Zambia is Africa’s second largest copper producer.

Other’s argue that the country’s level of electrification is still too low and is an indictment on the successive governments which should like other resource rich countries, leverage its large copper reserves to massively electrify the country, and subsidize rural and peri-urban areas electricity connections and supply costs.

 

0 Comments
0 likes

ZESCO,  Zambia’s energy giant has made an

Mining

The Mine Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ) has welcomed First Quantum Minerals’ approval of $1.25 billion mine expansion in Zambia.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, MUZ General Secretary George Mumba said the action gives MUZ excitement and hope that first quantum minerals FQM is here for long.

Mumba disclosed that pouring of such amount of money for expansion in Zambia is the step in the right direction as it guarantees the jobs of the members of the union.

He said the approval of $1.25 billion will also help the new dawn’s agenda to ramp up production from the current 800 000 metric tons to over three million metric tons in the next 10 years.

Mumba told ZBT that the action gives hope that if the existing operations can be expanded with such kind of injection the country can benefit as the projection is that the copper price will continue being high because of electric motors vehicles.

He added that such expansion gives a good position for the future of mining in Zambia.

According to a statement seen by ZBT, FQM said its board has approved plans for a $1.25 billion expansion of the company’s Kansanshi Copper Mine in Solwezi, a decision the company said was prompted by renewed confidence in Zambia’s investments climate.

FQM said the $1.25 billion package overall represents the largest investment in Zambia since its sentinel project was approved in 2012.

The company said it also approved a further $100 million investment in its enterprise Nickel project in Zambia, which it expects to start producing in 2023, ramping up to an annual production of 30,000 tonnes of nickel in concentrate.

The statement mentioned that FQM and the government have reached an agreement on outstanding Value Added Tax (VAT) repayments owed to it and an approach for repayment based on offsets against future mining taxes and royalties.

0 Comments
0 likes

The Mine Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ)

Agribusiness

The Small Scale Farmers Development Agency-SAFADA has disclosed that the country’s maize yield for the 2021/2022 farming season is likely to reduce by 30% compared to last year’s harvest.

SAFADA Executive Director Boyd Moobwe said he anticipates that the country will have a low yield this year due to factors such as farmers not getting inputs on time, droughts and the outbreak of fall armyworms, which affected all the ten provinces of the country.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Moobwe said he is of the view that government is aware of the expected harvest hence the advice that people should not worry as the current maize stock could last until 2023 March.

Moobwe however said that there is no guarantee that the current stock will go up to next year because traders are buying the maize, millers are grinding and exporting which will affect the reserves therefore the need to regulate the imports and not just focus on getting forex.

He added that what is important is national and household food security hence the need for government to ensure it puts up necessary measures so that the country does not run out of stock in the next one year.

“This year they are saying we don’t have enough, the private sector has said we won’t have enough stock this year, we will have less by 30% from the previous yield last year. It is difficult to keep something when you want money. Already I am hearing that FRA is exporting to Congo, ask me in December you will hear that we don’t have enough”, he said.

Moobwe mentioned that because of the expected poor yield this year, mealie meal prices might increase from the current K150-K160 by October this year.

 

 

0 Comments
0 likes

The Small Scale Farmers Development Agency-SAFADA has

Lifestyle

Minister of Finance and National Planning Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane has disclosed that the construction of the dual carriage route from Lusaka to the Copperbelt will commence in the next four to five weeks.

Musokotwane said government will soon conclude a deal with the private sector to construct the Lusaka-Ndola dual carriageway adding that the private sector and not government will fund the construction.

Speaking during a media briefing at Mulungushi International Conference Centre today, attended by the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Musokotwane said the Lusaka-Ndola road is in very bad shape hence the need to fix it but government will not borrow large sums of money to do so and will instead engage the private sector.

“The process is in a very advanced stage, in the next four to five weeks we should be able to put a contractor and say do this road, pay for it and you collect fees or whatever arrangement we will work together as a government”, he said.

He noted that government is focusing on Public Private Partnerships and the private sector has shown a lot of interest therefore government will continue to pursue such initiatives.

The Minister explained that government is putting in place measures to deal with the debt crisis in order to encourage more investments in the country and work with the private sector on both roads and power.

“We are also trying to come up with a similar arrangement and work on the Lusaka-Livingstone road, Sesheke to Kazungula, there are also other roads that the private sector is pursuing like linking DRC through the Northwestern Province to Solwezi, Kasempa and Kaoma. Soon we should see the benefits to the Zambian economy in terms of more money and also more business opportunities and more jobs”, Musokotwane said.

 

 

0 Comments
0 likes

Minister of Finance and National Planning Dr.

Markets

Minister of Finance and National Planning Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane says government has no alternative plan to resuscitate the economy and get the country out of debt besides obtaining the US$1.4 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Speaking during a media briefing at Mulungushi International Conference Centre today, attended by the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Musokotwane said getting the IMF bailout package is the practical thing to do in order to resuscitate the economy adding that this is a plan that Zambia has used before to get out of a debt crisis.

When asked by a journalist if the Ministry of Finance has a plan B in the event that Zambia does not secure the IMF deal, Musokotwane said this is a plan that has worked for many other countries therefore there is no reason why it will not work for Zambia.

“There is no plan B because this plan A is going to work. Please do remember that from 2016 to 2021, there was an attempt to go it alone, that plan did not deliver anything that is why we are still talking about the debt crisis today. You can see that with the process that we have already engaged in, the benefits are already visible even before we have concluded the process”, he said.

The Minister explained that the country must remain consistent on the reforms, continuative discipline in implementing the budget and avoid commercial borrowing to ensure that Zambia accesses the IMF loan.

He mentioned that the IMF is providing support to Zambia and its efforts to restructure the debt adding that Zambia expects to finalize the $1.4 billion bailout from the IMF by June this year.

 

0 Comments
0 likes

Minister of Finance and National Planning Dr.

Mining

A mining expert and Copperbelt University – CBU don professor Peter Chileshe has called for the reverting back and holding of  emerald auctions to Zambia as this move is  a great idea of increasing price transparency in the sector.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times –ZBT, Prof. Chileshe said emerald auctions should return back to Zambia in order to allow buyers and sellers to reach a negotiation point locally to improve price transparency and national accountability.

Professor Chileshe said locally held emerald auctions  will also help the Zambia Revenue Authority – ZRA – to establish actual income generated by the emerald mining companies, which would help improve revenue collection.

The mining expert told ZBT that locally held Emerald auctions create a competitive environment in Zambia in order to maximise the bargaining power, and ultimately achieve a higher prices. He said they are an important part of selling as they have a rapid and effective means of positioning of goods.

He however said the only disadvantage that comes with emeralds auctions is that buyers may secretly gang up or form a cartel to under bid or to force prices down. This is complicated to deal with even if we hold the auctions locally.

Other benefits of holding Emeral auctions in Zambia is the increased visibility of the country, boosting of business tourism as the bidder have to travel to Zambia as well as affording the small scale miners  a ready and lucrative market to sell their emeralds.

Zambia boosts of having the largest emerald mines in the world but realizing true value from these precious stones remains a challenge. Some mining experts contend that when the auctions were held locally, revenue declarations and tax collections from this sector improved. But their is limited publicly available data to prove this.

0 Comments
0 likes

A mining expert and Copperbelt University -

Tech

Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development Charles Milupi says the newly constructed Kenneth Kaunda International Conference Centre in Lusaka is 99.9% complete.

Speaking when he inspected the ultra-modern conference centre, Milupi said the Kenneth Kaunda International Conference Centre has been constructed at a cost of US$ 60 million and is a gift from the Chinese government.

Milupi said all has gone well with the construction and the contractor is expected to hand over the facility to government on 16th May, 2022 noting that the construction of the facility started in 2020 and the main conference room has a holding capacity of about 4,000.

He added that he was happy with the way the facility has been constructed and he is confident that the conference is ready to host its first international meeting in July this year adding that government will put up a very effective maintenance programme to ensure that the facility is kept in good condition.

Meanwhile, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development Permanent Secretary Eng. Danny Mfune said the handover would undergo testing to ensure that everything is working.

Eng. Mfune mentioned that the conference has been constructed by China Jiangsu International Economic and Technical Corporation Group and supervised by the ministry.

 

 

 

0 Comments
0 likes

Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development

Lifestyle

The Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) says a low inflation rate plays a key role in the fight against poverty but the country’s current economic trend shows that economic policies are not aligned using the inflation rate.

According to the Zambia Statistics Agency (ZAMSTATS), the annual inflation for April 2022 decreased to 11.5 percent from 13.1 percent recorded in March 2022, which means that on average, prices of goods and services increased by 11.5 percent between April 2021 and April 2022.

CSPR Executive Director Faides Tembatemba said government reduced the price of fuel for the month of May and the inflation rate has maintained a downward trend but the prices of goods and commodities have remained high.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Tembatemba explained that the low inflation rate is not impacting positively on the fight against poverty as the poverty levels are getting higer due to lack of a system that monitors price regulation.

Tembatemba said government should put in place a system that will monitor or track whether suppliers or wholesalers are ensuring that each time there is a reduction in fuel prices, or when the inflation rate is lower, prices of goods and commodities also reduce.

“We are appealing to government to be able to regulate or put in place a system that will monitor and ensure there is compliance because at the moment, nothing is moving. Poverty levels are still the same, poor people are still experiencing high food prices and government is not doing anything about it so as long as the food prices and essential commodities remain high the poverty levels will remain high”, she said.

She said citizens are not experiencing the positive effects of a low inflation rate, reduced fuel prices and a stable exchange rate because there is no system in place that ensures prices of commodities reflect these factors.

Tembatemba noted that Zambia has a liberalized economy therefore anyone can determine the pricing of any goods and services and whenever there is an increase in pricing factors, businesses are quick to adjust prices upwards but are reluctant to reduce prices of commodities when there is a reduction.

 

 

 

0 Comments
0 likes

The Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR)