Minister of Finance, Honorable Margaret Mwanakatwe has since called on state owned enterprises (SOEs) to improve their operations and to pay dividends to the government. She was speaking when she received a cheque of K3.6million from Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) to its major shareholder National NAPSA and the Ministry of Finance. Mrs. Mwanakatwe said that the dividends will help government meet some of its financial obligations.

Earlier ZCCMIH Chief Executive Officer Dr Pius Kasolo said K20.3million has been paid to NAPSA representing 15% shareholding while K23.3million has been availed to the Ministry of Finance. Dr. Kasolo said ZCCMIH will continue to pay dividends to the government as a way of contributing to the growth of the economy. NAPSA Board chairperson Marian Munyima said dividends will help the authority to grow its investment portfolio which now stands at K25billion.

“We have had some tough challenges with our partners but things have been sorted and we appreciate the support that the Minister has given ZCCM -IH and in terms of the way forward, my team and I are hoping that things will only get better through the copper prices going up and the economy price going up. We hope that most of the mining companies will be involved in these situations, so that they can also declare dividends accordingly,” Dr. Pius Kasolo said.

“It’s pleasing that a company grows it’s profit after tax by 125% coming from a loss of K2.2billion to a profit of K728million, that is not a small achievement and I want to encourage you to count on my support in ensuring that you can continue to bring about these dividends because you are working in a sector that is the largest part of this economy. And when we do not see dividends, we wonder why you are still a shareholder in these mining companies,” Mwanakatwe said.

“We are working in close co-operation with the executive management to oversee all investments, ensuring that they are in accordance with investment protocols and requirements. We have even gained support from the government to which we are grateful that they provided an environment to which we can execute our mandate and ensure that we continue to report positive gains on the fund as can be evidenced by the growth of the investment portfolio which now stands at K25billion and we expect it to end the year 2018 at K27billion,” NAPSA Board Chairperson Marian Munyinda said.

Zambia’s Head of State earlier issued a directive to the Industrial Development Corporation to work towards having all stated owned parastatals listed on the local bourse.

Lusaka Securities Exchange – LuSE listed ZCCM-IH is a state owned mining investment vehicle that manages the states stake in mining companies in Africa’s second largest copper producer, Zambia. As at 2pm ZCCM-IH shares were trading for K38 per share.

Source: Zambia Business Times