Zambia-based ZCCM Investments Holdings is expected to develop a cement plant and 52MW thermal power and Ndola as part of the company’s diversification programme.

ZCCM-IH will team up with private investors for the projects, and it is also collaborating with local and international financial institutions on the financing of the projects, according to local press.

Pius Kasolo, CEO of ZCCM-IH, told journalists on Monday that the power plant will provide 30-35MW of reliable electricity supply to the cement plant, while the remainder will be sold to state-owned power company Zesco.

ZCCM-IH, a shareholder in Ndola Lime, said construction of the cement plant is expected to start by the end of next month. “We are going to invest in the cement plant that will be located near Ndola Lime, and we are going to use the waste material from the Ndola Lime plant to manufacture cement,” the Zambia Daily Mail quoted him as saying.

Source: CemNet

ZCCM-Investments Holding (ZCCM-IH) is seeking to partner with the private sector in the development of a mixed agriculture and value chain project in Lufwanyama. This is part of ZCCM-IH’s diversification programme from mining.

ZCCM-IH chief executive officer Pius Kasolo said the company has since acquired 2,000 hectares of land to grow various crops under irrigation and rear livestock which will be processed and sold locally and exported within the region.

“We will sale produce in raw form; pork will be processed into beacon and ham and we will not only feed the Copperbelt but, targeting Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo markets,” Dr Kasolo said in an interview last week.

He said the projects earmarked for next year, will be done in partnership with the private sector following a number of international agricultural firms that have expressed interest in the project. “During the just ended mining indaba in Cape Town, South Africa, we showcased our projects, including the agriculture project and large-scale agricultural firms expressed interest to co-venture,” he said.

ZCCM-IH, which holds shares in mining companies on behalf of Government and is also owned by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), has embarked on ambitious programmes aimed at diversifying in various sectors including energy, real estate and agriculture.

Recently, the company invested about US$8 million in the acquisition of Trinity House in Lusaka as it ventures in real estate. Dr Kasolo said the property will house the ZCCM-IH offices while the rest of the building will be leased as office space.

Source: Daily Mail

THE Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment (ZCCM-IH) is in the process of constructing a cement plant in Ndola with an initial investment of US$600 million.
ZCCM-IH chief executive officer, Pius Kasolo said the plant which would be setup at Ndola Lime on the Copperbelt would be completed in three years time and is expected to create more than 1,000 permanent jobs.

Dr Kasolo said in an interview in Lusaka that the plant’s production capacity would be 5,000 tonnes per day and would absorb a good number of retrenched miners on the Copperbelt.

He said at construction stage, ZCCM-IH would create about 10,000 jobs but that once the plant was completed, the number would reduce to over 1,000.

“We have diversified and we are planning to setup a cement plant in Ndola with an initial investment of about $600 million.

“It will be a bigger cement plant which will be producing 5,000 tonnes of cement per day and we will be generating our own energy from the cement plant,” he said.

Dr Kasolo explained that finances were being put in place and the feasibility studies had since been conducted.
He said this was in line with the Zambia International Investment Forum (ZIIF -2016) which would be held under the theme “Investment for Industrialisation, Wealth and Job Creation.”

Commerce Trade and Industry Minister, Margaret Mwanakatwe launched the Investment Forum in Lusaka on Friday.

Dr Kasolo said once the prices of cement drop further, it would mean that more people would be able to construct houses and factories.

He said this meant that the more the prices of cement drop, the more industrialised Zambia would be.

Source: LusakaTimes

FLOATING shares on the capital market without a credit rating may inhibit public participation due to lack of information on the risk profile of the company intending to list, Credit Rating Agency (CRA) has observed.
Commenting on the low number of subscribers to the ZCCM Investment Holding (IH) share offer CRA executive director of strategy and business development, Chishimba Yumbe said lack of clarity on the risk profile and operating environment of ZCCM-IH may have discouraged investors.

Almost 28 million Government shares in ZCCM-IH were offered for sale to Zambians, but only 0.81 percentage point shares were bought when the offer closed on November 30, 2015, with the listing company attributing the low subscription to the challenges facing the global copper mining industry.

Mr Yumbe said in an interview on Monday that credit ratings analyse all risk issues and are a vital component of market information to be included in a public offering of shares if the public is to be attracted in the offer, especially during challenging times such as the fall in the prices of base metals on the global market.

CRA is licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as Zambia’s only authorised provider of credit rating services and it seeks to promote credit ratings spur investments and economic development.
“It was important to understand why the response from public investors could have been low. Investors’ interests are primarily two-fold – reward and risk. The former is often well amplified in the company prospectus through the financial projections, but the latter if not well articulated can be very difficult to decipher by potential investors.”

“One way a risk is easily communicated is through a credit rating. To arrive at a credit rating entails independent assessment of all business and financial risks, and the credit rating report provides detailed pertinent information,” he said.

Mr Yumbe, who described the low participation as unfortunate, said the current economic downturn in base metal prices does not mean future prospects are poor hence, the need to view share offers and long-term investments.
On July 30, 2015, Government offered Zambian citizens 27,961,237 shares, representing 17.4 percent of its shareholding in the mining conglomerate but Stock Brokers Zambia said only 805 applications were received and processed, representing a total of 226,064 shares.

This means the residual shares amounting to 27,735,173 representing 17.3 percent shareholding in ZCCM-IH will still be retained by Government.

Source: Daily Mail

ABANDA CHULU, Lusaka
ABOUT 28 million Government shares in ZCCM- Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) that were offered for sale to Zambians have been shunned. Only 0.1 percentage point shares being bought when the offer closed on November 30, 2015.

ZCCM-IH has attributed the poor response to the preferential secondary market offer to the challenges facing the global copper mining industry.

On July 30, 2015, Government offered Zambian citizens 27,961,237 shares, represents 17.4 percent of its shareholding in the mining conglomerate.

In a statement released by Stock Brokers Zambia last week, only 805 applications were received and processed, representing a total of 226,064 shares (0.1 percent shareholding in ZCCM-IH) that were subscribed.

This means the residual shares amounting to 27,735,173 representing 17.3 percent shareholding in ZCCM-IH will still be retained by Government.

Commenting on the development, ZCCM-IH chief executive officer Pius Kasolo said the results of the preferential offer to Zambian citizens signify the challenges facing the global copper mining industry, and particularly the holding company’s significant portfolio concentration in the industry.

Despite the interim concerns, primarily driven by slower than historical Chinese demand for commodities, we are confident that the long-term prospects of the company remain overwhelmingly strong, and that the present difficulties offer a chance to learn, adapt, diversify, and realise benefits from opportunities that would not otherwise be possible under ‘normal’ market conditions,

he said.

Dr Kasolo said ZCCM-IH will remain committed to enhancing long-term shareholder value by continually seeking viable and sensible investment opportunities, while navigating prudently through challenging times.

ZCCM-IH will engage Government on the need to continually approach both Zambian and foreign investors to maximise their participation in the mining sector,

he said.

The shareholding structure subsequent to allotment will now be 60.3 percent which translates into 96,926,669 shares for Industrial Development Corporation, 17.3 percent (27,735,173 shares) for Government but held directly through the Minister of Finance.

National Pension Scheme Authority holds 15 percent, translating into 24,120,043 shares and other shareholders owns 7.4 percent which is 12,018,401 shares.

KWETO MFULA, Chingola
CHINGOLA residents have been offered to buy 1,000 former ZCCM-Investment Holding (ZCCM-IH) housing units at a cost of K1,337 per unit.

The houses will be offered to sitting tenants in line with Government’s home empowerment policy.

This came to light when Nchanga member of Parliament Wilbur Simuusa and Chingola town clerk George Mulenga met prospective beneficiaries at Banda Market in Nchanga-North yesterday.

Mr Mulenga told sitting tenants that the Ministry of Lands has since prepared letters of invitation of treaty to 500 of them, while the other 500 letters will be done at a later stage.

He said beneficiaries have been given 90 days in which to pay the required amount in full.

KOMBO KACHEMBA, Kitwe
THE Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines-Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) says the challenges facing the mining sector are temporary and they arise from changes in the supply and demand chain on the international market.

ZCCM-IH chief executive officer Pius Kasolo said the slump in copper prices on the international market is a routine economic trait which is not permanent but comes as a result of changes in the demand and supply chain.

What happens is that if China is not buying our copper, the mines reduce on production. At a certain point, when all the copper on the market is consumed, there will be high demand for the commodity and the prices will definitely go up. So what is happening in the mining sector in Zambia is temporary,

Dr Kasolo said.

He was speaking in an interview in Kitwe on Tuesday during a ZCCM-IH discussion forum dubbed ‘Share sale down promotion’.

ZCCM-IH is selling shares to members of the public at a share price of K38 per capital share.

Dr Kasolo projected that the price of copper on the international market is likely to improve in the next six months and appealed to Zambians to have confidence in the mining sector.

He said the mining sector still remains viable with mining activities still taking place in the North-Western Province.

Dr Kasolo said Zambia has plenty of copper ore deposits which are yet to be explored by investors willing to invest in the mining sector.

The North-Western Province will soon become the Copperbelt of Zambia. There are exploration works that are currently taking place here in Zambia for other minerals as well including gold, so our mines are still viable,

he said.

Dr Kasolo also said ZCCM-IH is capable of managing the mining sector should Government decide to take ownership of the mines.

He, however, said if ZCCM-IH has to take over the operations of the mines, it means the investment holding has to also inherit the huge debts accrued by the mine owners.

If President Lungu today tells me to be in charge of the mines, I can manage to run them, after all these mines are managed by Zambians,

he said.
Dr Kasolo said ZCCM-IH has the skills and expertise required to operate the mines effectively for the Zambian people.

And speaking during the forum, Dr Kasolo appealed to Zambians to buy shares in ZCCM-IH because it is diversifying its activities to include the agriculture and energy sectors.

He also assured Zambians that their investments will be protected should they choose to buy shares in ZCCM-IH.

Dr Kasolo said priority in buying shares has been given to Zambians for ZCCM-IH to be locally owned.
He appealed to Zambians to quickly buy ZCCM-IH shares before the promotion ends on November 30 this year.

And KELVIN CHONGO reports that mining expert Matheus Mphande has urged Government to consider value addition to copper as a way of protecting jobs in the mining sector.

“The only way we can develop the country is to get into processing of copper into copper wires, pipes and manufacturing of motor vehicle parts,” he said.
“With these plans in place even when copper prices fall at the London Metal Exchange, the economy will still remain strong,” he said.

Dr Mphande said many countries have no copper deposits and that Zambia must take advantage by getting into cooperation with countries like China, India or South Africa to set up a copper processing plant.

Dr Mphande said even South Africa, which manufactures cars such as Isuzu and Toyota, has no copper deposits and it would be appropriate for Zambia to enter into an agreement to supply finished copper products specifically for vehicle manufacturing.

Dr Mphande also said mine owners should stop importing lime but buy the locally produced one.

Copper at the London Metal Exchange was trading at US$4,525 per tonne yesterday.