The Zambia State Insurance Corporation – ZSIC Life has postponed its decision to get listed on the Lusaka Securities Exchange – LuSE to a date which will be confirmed by the end of this year 2020.
Government had in 2019 announced its intentions list both ZAFFICO and ZSIC Life on LuSE to enable the two state owned companies raise more capital for investments as well as achieve the added benefits of listing which result in improvement of corporate governance and adoption of best in class business practices. ZAFFICO has since listed but ZSIC has not.
However, the corporation which was set to list this year 2020 has expressed its desire to still get listed on market indicating that it is currently working on its internal systems which need to be advanced and upgraded if it were to join the public stock market.
ZSCI Life Managing Director Christabel Banda told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT in an exclusive interview that the company’s directive to sell some of its equity or shares on the stock market is on the cards as it is currently ensuring that internal processes are strengthened by having all the systems fully automated especially with the kind of business it’s in.
She disclosed that about K3 million has been invested in advancing these internal systems and that this process will come to an end in December this year, after which, the Corporation will now make a concrete decision as to when to list on LuSE.
“We need to fully work on our internal systems as we have been using outdated ones. We also need to ensure that we are fully automated. We are also dealing with all the legal issues as we have certain liabilities of the long term nature. This process has improved and we anticipate to finish by December this year,” She told ZBT.
She added that the Corporation has already stated registering its shares on the stock market as phase one of the project and that applications have already been done hence hoping to complete this process in the next two months.
Banda further said ZSIC is also in the process of developing its new strategic plan for the next five years, hence it gives the company an opportunity to craft its future and ensure customers are satisfied in terms of services delivery.
“We appreciate support from our clients during this transformation period which we have undergone for the past 2 years and we have made progress in terms of the quality of services we are giving” She concluded.
Calls to list and offer at least 20% stake to locals for state owned enterprises – SOEs held under the Industrial Development Corporation – IDC are valid as reporting and corporate governance practices which come with listing would root out most of the inefficiencies that these companies are currently struggling with and result in efficient and profitable companies.
Finance Minister Dr. Bwalya Ngandu had in 2019 directed IDC to ensure all SOE’s either shape up or become profitable and stop being a drain on the treasury. Listing these SOE’s on LuSE is seen as a major step to infuse professionalism and efficiency into these companies, some of which have management teams that are incompetent and solely rely on political patronage to hold on to their positions.
