Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Mr Richard Musukwa has expressed happiness with the progress made at Kasenseli Gold Mine project in Mwinilunga District.

The project being developed by Zambia Gold Company Ltd (ZGC) owned by ZCCM-IH (51%) and Ministry of Finance (49%) has so far produced 50 kilograms of gold worth USD $3 million.

The mining and processing of near surface gold ore material commenced end of June 2020 following the granting of a mining licence to ZGC by the Ministry of Mines.

During the tour and site visit of the gold project, Mr Musukwa said he was elated with the progress, and that Zambian mining professionals were at the forefront of developing the project.

The first phase of diamond drilling for primary gold that commenced in April 2020 has been finalised and samples currently being prepared for lab analysis.

Production and processing capacity will be increased in the coming months once the laboratory results are received and analysed.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the importation of the processing equipment and other machinery required to increase capacity.

Over 200 locals have been employed during the development of the project in exploration, fencing, mining and processing.

59% of fencing 50 hectares of the active licence area, covering 3km has been done so far and scheduled to be completed by end of October 2020.

In addition, 13 cassava fields belonging to 9 households covering approximately 5 hectares of land in total, and located in the licence area have been valued by the Ministry of Agriculture, and compensation is currently in progress.

ZGC has also undertaken corporate social responsibility initiatives such as sinking of a water borehole, solar powered with 10, 000 litres tank capacity and 3 water collection points in Kasenseli.

Further, corporate social investment initiatives such as working on the main roads and building a health post are currently underway.

The Minister’s entourage during the mine visit included Ministry of Mines Permanent Secretary Mr. Barnaby Mulenga, Northwestern Province Permanent Secretary Mr Willie Manjimela, ZCCM-IH CEO Mr. Mabvuto Chipata, and ZCCM-IH Board Directors.

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Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit national coordinator Chanda Kabwe says the Government will empower ex-Roan Antelope Copper mine Limited retrenched miners and dozens of displaced residents of Luanshya as a way of alleviating their suffering.

And the DMMU has donated 50,000 facemasks to Luanshya District with a call on residents to adhere to total compliance to Coronavirus regulations and the Public Health Act to prevent the spread of the deadly respiratory disease.

Speaking when he paid a courtesy call on Luanshya Mayor Nathan Chanda at the Civic Centre, Mr Kabwe said the Government was aware of the ex-miners’ suffering after the privatisation of the copper mine by their former employer, RAMCOZ.

He announced that plans were underway to empower the families who have been displaced in Luanshya’s Kawama area and those whose houses collapsed during  the last rainy season in Roan’s Pama Church area, with building materials, cement and roofing sheets.

Mr Kabwe explained that the DMMU was working in close collaboration with the Offices of the Mayor and District Commissioner in Luanshya to come up with a mechanism which will see to it that the ex-miners, who did not benefit from land were assisted and that the displaced and those who had their homes collapse were assisted with building materials to construct new homes in the quickest possible way.

Mr Kabwe, who also handed over assorted facemasks to the Office of the Mayor and DC at the Civic Centre, said the Government was determined to see to it that all Zambians, regardless of their status in society, were reached and helped in preventing Coronavirus.

Luanshya Mayor Nathan Chanda thanked the DMMU for the timely intervention aimed at addressing the plight of the displaced Kawama Township residents who became homeless after someone emerged and claimed ownership of their land on which they had built their houses.

He said some Roan residents whose houses collapsed during the rainy season were assisted with land to build their houses by the Luanshya Municipal Council but most of them lacked building materials.

Mr Chanda said the move by the DMMU to work with the the authorities in Luanshya  to empower  the remaining former miners who were left out on the list of  the Government  donated farm land in Luanshya and other towns  Copperbelt towns was commendable.

He explained that the people of Luanshya were among the most affected victims of the mismanaged privatisation of the country’s mining sector.

Meanwhile, Luanshya District Commissioner Patrick Maipambe said government workers in Luanshya were committed to see to it that the issuance of National Registration Cards target of 18,000 NRC is met.
So far, 10,000 new NRCs have been issued in Luanshya.

This is according to a statement issued by Luanshya Municipal Council
Public Relations officer Mr. Gideon Thole.

INDUSTRIAL Development Corporation (IDC) and ZCCM-Investments Holdings (IH) are expected to swap stakes in some entities to achieve optimisation of operations and unlock opportunities for synergy within the group.
In a market announcement entitled proposed group portfolio rationalisation and re-organisation, IDC intends to transfer its 25 percent equity stake in Kagem Mining Limited to ZCCM-IH.
On the other hand, ZCCM-IH will transfer its 71.4 percent equity stake in Investrust Bank Plc at fair market value.
ZCCM-IH will also transfer its 100 percent stake in Mushe Milling Limited to IDC at fair market value, which will be determined by the evaluators.
The planned transfers are, however, subject to approval by relevant statutory regulatory authorities and CLICK TO READ MORE

ZCCM-IH has approved a reorganisation of its portfolio with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) where both entities will transfer their equity held in three corporate entities to the other to achieve optimisation of operations within the IDC/ZCCM-IH Group.

In a market announcement, Friday, ZCCM-IH stated that it was reorganising its portfolio with the IDC, which would see the transfer of their equity held in three separate corporate entities to the IDC, and vice versa, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Following board approval, ZCCM-IH will transfer its 71.4 per cent equity stake in Investrust Bank Plc to the IDC, and transfer its 100 per cent stake in Mushe Milling Limited to the IDC both at fair market value.

On the other hand, the IDC would transfer its 25 per cent equity stake in Kagem Mining Limited, at fair market value, to ZCCM-IH all in an effort to achieve optimisation of operations and unlock opportunities for synergy within the IDC/ZCCM-IH Group.

“These three corporate actions listed above will be undertaken simultaneously as a corporate group reorganisation exercise involving IDC and ZCCM-IH and constitute the proposed Group Portfolio Rationalisation and Reorganisation,” stated ZCCM-IH via its sponsoring broker, Stockbrokers Zambia Limited.

“Rationale for the Proposed Group Reorganisation: The Board considers that the proposed Group Reorganisation will enhance and improve operational efficiency and performance of ZCCM-IH by realigning and streamlining management oversight on its investments portfolio to support and sustain Company growth and unlock value for its shareholders going forward.”

The IDC portfolio currently includes companies in the banking sector, specifically: Zanaco Plc, Indo-Zambia Bank and the Zambia Industrial and Commercial Bank, and Superior Milling Limited in the maize meal milling industry.

It was established in 2014 to spearhead the development of Zambia’s domestic industrial capacity, and play a major role in job creation, while ZCCM-IH on the other hand, is an investments holding company with diversified interests in mining, energy, banking, property and other sectors of the Zambian economy.

• Speech delivered  by ZCCM IH Mabvuto Chipata

A significant percentage of our Company budget expenditure goes through the procurement unit that contracts suppliers of various goods and services.

These goods and services are particularly administrative and investment-related, from hiring machinery for projects, undertaking of environmental project briefs, exploration services, consultancy services, supply of branding collaterals to supply of cleaning services among others.

We are currently redefining our business strategy, from being passive holders of minority stakes in the mines, to being active operators in mining projects in the country.

As such, the effective and efficient management of both the revenue and the cost side of the business is key with this renewed strategic focus.

Cost management for instance in operations and acquiring of various equipment and other services is necessary for us to achieve the set revenue targets.

It is with this background that the issue of procurement becomes paramount in managing the cost side of the business.  

I therefore have no doubt that the introduction of an electronic procurement system within our procurement unit will lead to increased efficiencies and transparency that will result in:

• Reduced costs;
• Increased productivity;
• Smooth interface between the company and the suppliers;
• Controlled monitoring of contracts;
• Increased transaction speed; and,
• Reduced errors.

We want to leverage on such benefits of the e-procurement system to deliver on projects efficiently and drive company growth. 

As such, this training workshop has been prompted by the need for ZCCM-IH to migrate to this Electronic-Government Procurement (E-GP) system, which is timely for us to move and adapt to the changing business environment.

We are working towards the integration and migration of our internal systems to digital platforms, and this system is one of the tools to help us deliver on projects effectively.  

I would like to thank the ZPPA team, through the Director General Mr Christopher Chichoni for responding favorably to come and facilitate this training for us. 

I urge all the ZCCM-IH staff being trained to embrace this change as it will add value to the ZCCM-IH procurement cycle.

I would like to invite the ZPPA Director General Mr Chichoni, to give his remarks and officially open this training workshop.

Thank you and God bless!

• ZPPA Director General’s speech at the public procurement training workshop

It is with great pleasure and honour that i take this opportunity to welcome you all to this very important workshop. Thank you for having taken time off your busy schedules to attend this training workshop on electronic government procurement usage.

As you may be aware, the Zambia Public Procurement Authority is a statutory body mandated to provide regulatory and oversight function over procuring entities in order to promote integrity, fairness and public confidence in public procurement. Allow me to state that, the authority has continued to implement notable reforms in the quest to improve public procurement processes and the implementation of the electronic government procurement (e-gp) system is one such example. The implementation of the e-gp marks a new era in public procurement reforms and is in line with government’s overall policy to digitize its operations. Allow me to mention that the e-gp system has a number of benefits not only to the government but to all procuring entities involved in the procurement process and to the general citizenry. The system has simplified public procurement and drastically reduced the challenges faced in the manual process.

Ladies and gentlemen.

Once fully implemented, it is envisaged that vices like corruption, collusion and bid rigging will be reduced.this is because the procurement of goods, works and services will be done in a transparent manner. The e-gp system will also enhance efficiency by simplifying public procurement processes.

The aim of this training is to enhance your knowledge and understanding of public procurement processes especially in the usage of the electronic government procurement system (e-gp). As you will notice from the programme, this workshop will focus on electronic procurement processes such as online annual procurement planning, e-tendering and online tender advertising.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Public procurement accounts for 15 percent (15%) of zambia’s gross domestic product (gdp). This is a big portion of zambia’s gdp which if handled properly can contribute positive results to the national economy and development agenda. Public procurement therefore, is a vital component in the development process of zambia. The implementation of the e-gp system means that all procurement transactions can be carried out electronically leaving a clear audit trail of all activities. This training for zccm-ih, is a step in the right direction and it is our desire as zppa for all procuring entities to migrate to   e- procurement.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Given the ever-changing business trends world over, zambia has not been left behind and positive strides have been made in implementing strategies that will continuously improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public procurement. Therefore, improvements should always be embraced even at the expense of the seemingly comfortable status quo. The public procurement system in zambia is no exception to the need for continuous improvement hence the introduction of the e-gp system.

As i conclude, allow me to welcome all of you once again to this very important workshop and i want to assure you that, as the public procurement regulator we will endeavour to do everything within our madate and ensure that the playing field in public procurement is favorable for all stakeholders. I  wish to inform you that in the public procurement bill, the usage of the egp system will be mandatory, as zppa we are happy that you have made the decision of transforming from manual procurement to digital and should you have challenges at any stage of using the system, our e-gp technical team is readily available to work with you.  Please do not hesitate to contact my staff beyond this workshop for any e-gp related support you may require. I also wish to inform you that the authority has embarked on a rigorous training program targeted at suppliers to increase the number of suppliers trained in online bid submission.

Ladies and gentlemen,

At the end of this workshop we will provide each participant with a certifcate of attendance. With these remarks, i declare this workshop officially open

I thank you for your attention and ensure that you take care of yourselves by observing social distance, sanitizing and masking up always.

Stay safe and god bless you all

There are many challenges facing the mining industry and have credible procurement systems is one of them. According to Mining Procurement & Supply- East Coast of Australia, their 2013 report indicated that some of the challenges around mining procurement included:

• There are numerous pressures related to supporting the business to deliver cost
• efficiencies, due to the external market environment. Delivery to business plan is a
• key focus for all functional support areas due to the market, and the key enabler will
• be cost optimisation.
• Suppliers might not be around in 6 months, considering that they are facing a
• decrease in demand and prices.
• Timelines for major deliverables and projects might not be met if your supplier is
• downsizing or seeing decreased profit.
• It’s not guaranteed previous commitments will be met.
• Recent or current tendering processes might not be adequate enough to guarantee
• supply chain security.
• Building win-win relationships is a lot harder due to economic pressures.

“A significant percentage of our Company budget expenditure goes through the procurement unit that contracts suppliers of various goods and services”,  said the ZCCM IH CEO Mabvuto Chipata recently at a procurement workshop at Protea Chisamba where a joint collaboration with ZPPA was conducted.

“These goods and services are particularly administrative and investment related, from hiring machinery for projects, undertaking of environmental project briefs, exploration services, consultancy services, supply of branding collaterals to supply of cleaning services among others.”

Procurement is becoming a strategic asset for mining companies. ZCCM IH understands this and hence why it was important to conduct the workshop so that it can beef up its internal knowledge systems. Workshops such as this one allow for staff to identify strategic issues around procurement in mining.

“As such, the effective and efficient management of both the revenue and the cost side of the business is key with this renewed strategic focus. Cost management for instance in operations and acquiring of various equipment and other services is necessary for us to achieve the set revenue targets”.

This is why the CEO has all the confidence that workshops such as this will contribute to creating a sustainable business environment for his investment group. “I therefore have no doubt that the introduction of an electronic procurement system within our procurement unit will lead to increased efficiencies and transparency”.