Government says it will not be pressurized to hastily announce the new investor for Luanshya mine.
Labour Deputy Minister Simon Kachimba says this is because government wants to secure a credible investor.
Mr. Kachimba was speaking in Luanshya today after touring Mpelembe Drilling Company (MDC) and Metal Fabricators of Zambia (ZAMEFA).
He said government would proceed cautiously in finding an investor for the mine in a bid to ensure job security at the mining firm.
Mr. Kachimba, who is also Luanshya Member of Parliament, said government was concerned about the job losses in the mining sector.
He said that government was doing everything possible to attract new investment to counter job losses in the mining sector adding that the wavering of the windfall taxes was one such initiative.
And Mpelembe Drilling Company Managing Director Ian Milward said the global economic turn down had adversely affected his company.
He said the economic crisis led the company to lay off 900 workers and put the remaining 300 idle workers on half salary.
He said the company was also grappling with the challenge of finding K4billion to pay the retrenches.
And ZAMEFA human resources manager Albert Chilufya said his firm had maintained its 350 workforce adding that the company had no intention of retrenching any employee.
I hope the next investors have potential
Government must find credible investors with a good track record. With modern high tech internet it is not expensive to surf and check the credentials of the bidding companies.
The other thing to beware of is the offers bidders make. Most useless investers tend to bid higher just for the sake of getting the mine and eventually running it down after obtaining massive loans in pretext that they own a mine. They buy the mine at any price to use it as a gateway for obtaining cash from International organisations, but the funds obtained are redirected to other external business ventures whilst here they liquidate the mine. Surely don’t we have people to read through the lines…..
As inductive analysis, I base my humble thinking on the, following:
1. Have we exhausted the mineral deposits in the grounds
2.Have the artificial Investors been recalled
3.Have the investors seen of great potential in Zambia as , a force to reckon with
4, are they fake investors
5.Are they govt change mercenary
Why , yes why ….
The president is busy firing and employing bootlikers instead of looking for investors,the only thing he knows best is to give positions to either his relatives or mmd caders
He has never ever addressed the nation on the status of the economy or just the mines themselves…who is pressurizing to name an investor anyway.time is running out fast for him,anytime soon it will be campaigning again
What is the story noting underground ?You Geologist you say , I shudder to listen? Tell the The Zambians …
We will still find out soon or later. Hope they will be real Investors not infestors.
Who ever buys will encounter the same problems which have dogged this mine from the days of RST. The only solution is to operate BALUBA and just forget about the SHAFTs like No 28. I know that will mean less jobs but business is not a charity.
Ba Government do your thing. we are washing you closely.
The question behind all this is how stable are copper sales on our core markets at the momment? If they have continued to fall, as I presume, then there is no use of having an investor. The govt might just aswell keep the mines stet-owned until copper sales rise again.
I mean watching!!! at Numbala 8!!
sorry, I meant “state-owned”
This is hard one for Govt. They cant move fast coz they are percived as corrupt and business people also know that the Goverment is desperate and as such they will play around with them. If any of you bloggers have the oppotrunity, try to read selling the family silver by Francis Kaunda to see the complexity of selling such an asset. This are tough situattions because whatever decision Govt takes they will be winners and losers. And since the Govt’s integrity is viewed as suspect they will be lots of political capital to make
Nafyalilwe ku mpatamto ine ka
Lekeni ukwangasha pa luanshya , nalavunduka
when i become the president of this country zambia, I shall make Luanshya ka capital city because of Tribute to that sweet town
This is how far we have come.
1.Restructure Government Department
2.Corporatisation
3.Privatisation
4.Shares-initially only 49% overseas
5.Shares- increase to over 51% overseas
6.Investors from overseas
Notice now,that without these investors,your country will collapse economically as you have been already cleverly conned into the selling up your major assets.
Stage 1-We awoke up one morning in the early 1990’s to find that government Department had been targeted for “restructuring”
Stage 2-The catch word was corporatisation.The clever folk explained to us that this would increase efficiency.We said oh good.
Stage 3-We awoke a few morning later to see a new word in the paper.It was privatisation.The learned ones told us that this would increase efficiency,we said good.
Stage 4-We awoke and upon reading the morning paper,see a new word apear-shares.At this point I smelled a rat.
It is strange how we want to keep on waiting for outside investors. Does it mean Zambians cannot invest in the mines? We need to learn about where those same saints we are waiting for get the money to invest & why we cannot get from that same source. Is it the capacity to negotiate for those loans that we do not have? Is it difficult to negotiate for purchase of equipment to recapitalise mines? If it is the lack of capacity to manage the mines we can always employ expertriates for a certain period while we are trainin our own. It really is difficult to understand why we cannot run these mines with our own resources. May be it is becoz education system is aimed at makin us work for someone & tryin to climb the corporate ladder instead of makin us work for ourselves & ownin that ladder.
#13 how are you youngman?
# 16 Kamunyama good questions. One big problem is financers want track record and some form of gurantee/ security so this favours big boys who are already set up. \but it does not mean you cant try
In a crisis scenario, nations will give up practically anything — freedoms, finances, and yes, even their own currencies if it means avoiding certain economic disaster. If there’s one thing that the world has learned from 9/11, it’s that the best way to grab power from the People is to either engineer a disaster or piggyback on one that occurs on its own. When faced with the fear of annihilation, the People of any nation will not merely surrender their freedoms and finances, they will beg to turn them over to any apparent “authority” who promises a solution.
Something is very wrong with policies leading to simultaneous crises in credit and food that threaten not just the wealth but the wellbeing of most of the world’s population
Yaba…uncle Kachimba for how long sure..you dont do anything for my poor town…Do you know what luanshya means to me??……i hear you about securing a credible investor but people are getting desperate..shame..my heart sinks!
AN INVESTOR IN LUANSHYA IS A BIG MINING LIE ??? THAT SOUNDS MORE POLITICAL THAN BUSINESS. Luanshya Mine is one of the OLDEST IN ZAMBIA, PROBABLY THE MOST UNPROFITABLE TOO! WHO WILL INVEST THERE IN LUANSHYA??? Let ZCCM-IH do it, if its a viable venture!
#18 positivist pa zed, Thanks. But a track record has its beginning not so? So the question is when is Zambian track record going to start and from which platform? Government can always be the guaranter but of course bearing in mind that such loans they provide security for should not end up into a Zambian Airways saga. But govt should have a regulatory fremework where they have to even go to an extent of actually be the one to pay for equipment that has to be sourced for the mines to avoid the loans being spent on lavish holidays with girlfriends and mayininiz.
Looking forward to days when we ourselves will start investing in our own mines but becoz of our selfishness we will always be going backwards. We are the only ones who can develop this country, those investors will come and go and leave us with nothing after they have made massive profits.
Following “He said government would proceed cautiously in finding an investor for the mine in a bid to ensure job security at the mining firm. Mr. Kachimba, who is also Luanshya Member of Parliament, said government was concerned about the job losses in the mining sector.” Why not list the LCM on LuSE so that Zambians can buy shares in it? What is so special about looking for a single investor?
When are Zambians with little money going to be allowed to own such big companies as shareholders?
President HH and your UPND Team, what is your alternative plan to the MMD GRZ’s (foreign) investor seeking to take over LCM? Such are times to take useful positions on National issues of this magnitude where JOBS are at stake for our fellow Zambians UPND and other small political…
Viva Chelsea,IVanovic, Alex,Terry,Lampard,Essien,Chech, Malouda,Kalou, Ballack,Drogba. We are going to beat Barcelona tonight. Viva the blues,we are making history, Nothing will stop Chelsea from getting the European trophy this season.Wether the devil likes it or not.Hiddink is the man.Blessed of God whatever he touches prospers.
Same story every tym of credible investors,i hope this tym it works!
#23 KCM. That is basically my point. And you are right in pointing out the selfishness we suffer from. We like doing things for own gratification with no communal benefit. For example, miners have been retrenched but wait & see how many will take an initiative to approach two or four of their fellow retrenchees to set up a business to add up their few coins they will be given as benefits. None. All they will do is to out-do each other on who has a nice car, or who’s made a “black table” with mosi. I am sure if 10 came together and applied for a licence to invset in emarald minin, & with their expertise, they would achieve something. You see the same thin with traders who cry foul after being removed from a trading place coz they cannot afford rent. Why not rent big shop as a group of 8?
Mmmm! mm! What good investiment can come from the chineese? Mmm!! Boza
How come LT is quiet about this swine flu?? Kapena naeve adwala.
why??
How come LT is quiet about the pig flu??
We have heard this before. after this ministeres find this as a way of making money. They will line their pockets with corupt money. We are very unfotunate on this matter as there is no strategic thinking on this regard
25 MAESTRO H : Who ever buys will encounter the same problems which have dogged this mine from the days of RST. The only solution is to operate BALUBA and just forget about the SHAFTs like No 28. I know that will mean less jobs but business is not a charity Luanshya Mine operations need to be ratinalised for it to viable and to this effect Politicians must stand aside and let the experts do the job. Am speaking from a very well informed position..
Simon Kachimba is a Luanshya person and knows first hand what is going on there. Please, choose wisely and do thorough background checks for investors, otherwise Luanshya will be stuck in this loop of unproductivity.
Zambia can only attract low level speculators as investors from china and India because of very poor infrastructure and a very weak and immature political system which can crumb into chaos at any time.The kind of political intolerance and manipulation by the ruling govt makes prospective investors nervous as they are not sure what will happen next. No one would be surprised if there was a coup in Zambia tomorrow because the climate is ripe so that kind of thing. lack of leadership and assertiveness by the current prez are a clear recipe for chaos.
this pic was taken in Roan, opposite the minning hospital…yeah i remember that!
Iwe ka simon finshi ulelanda? Mmm!! Your friend Mines Minister Mwale was busy bribing the Union notuma K1000,000=00. Walimonako Unionist asanguka caretaker? Mmm!! Bushe minister noyo ni paymaster and why was he hiding? There is something happening under the carpet. Can someone sweep the dirt?
33 Deja Vu thanks and greetings. On “The only solution is to operate BALUBA and just forget about the SHAFTs like No 28. I know that will mean less jobs but business is not a charity Luanshya Mine operations need to be ratinalised for it to viable and to this effect Politicians must stand aside and let the experts do the job.” has there been a study by UNZA or CBU to establish what you are writing about or is your opinion based on non-expert knowledge?
My take is that the MODEL that the MMD GRZ has been using towards EDUCATION is very wrong. Instead of doing things in a research-based manner, the MMD GRZ has been reacting to situations instead of forecast data from the academe. This is the more reason Zambia doesn’t need the Undereducated with trial and error methods.
35 continued.
We are in an era where technocrats through both ACADEMIC and RESEARCH WORK need to provide direction for mother Zambia.
The bickering observed in the media where the POST with its cohorts throw dirty on GRZ and then the unusing its experience MMD GRZ offers counter responses or threats will NEVER take Zambia anywhere.
We need Zambians to own their own companies and raise their own capital with the help of nicely put up GRZ programmes. Look at the Chinese and check how its people are flooding over Africa in particular and the Earth in general. This is because their government is keen to elp its people who businesses and become party to their national cake no matter who small each individuals gets at the end of the day.
Zambia needs such by having exposed leaders.
#23 Kamunyama I am simply giving you a picture of the problems to be encoutered not justifying them. Then the problem with Government taking over our is ineffeciency, corruption , bureaucracy the works starts coming in unless you can put in strong controls. The stock exchange has its regulation to protect investors like at least three years of consistent profit. In my books the problem with Luanshya is not politicians but poor profitability. I have an out of the box solution for Luanshya, turn it into a tourism town with mining and conference mining being the main activities, side by side with whatever viable mining can be undertaken
General PK says: Government must find credible investors with a good track record.
We need investors who can be integrated with a long term development plan for the Zambian economy.
That means the government must have a long term development plan. We need investors who are willing to reinvest their profits in the national or local economy, and are going to train up (when necessary) local companies to act as their suppliers.
What we need, are investments that create a multiplier effect, that maximize job creation and incomes for local people.
For instance, if you have a mining companie that wants to expand into freight deliry, attract ones that will reinvest half their profits in a trucking company or storage facilities, so that when the mine runs out, they can continue.
In theory this is great idea but in reality business men come with their selfish motives of profit maximization. So you can look out for the best and get trash. Worse still if you only have a handfull of investors and none of them meets the full criteria Then the is the problem of influence from the powerfull countries where these companies exist.
#36, dont believe everything you hear in the media just becoz its not your man in state house…..what makes you think Max would sink so low as to be paymaster at some mine shaft when the guy is a top-of-the-cream mining engineer from Imperial University??? Nasheniko imiponto
Most of the ‘investors’ referred to as investors are not investors, but mining companies who have investors themselves – usually banks.
There are many kinds of investors – angel investors, institutional investors, governments. They all have different time frames, different levels of risk tolerance, etc.
However, the most healthy form of investment comes from successful companies expanding operations by reinvesting their profits in their own business.
Simon Kachimba swings into action…..
#39 MAESTRO H Mwana iam amining engineer who started as a staff leaner before being sent to college and I have worked in all ZCCM owned mines except for Mufulira. So I know what am talking about . I know how expensive its to operate an under ground mine and how cheap it is to run an open cast mine. If you need more details on these just send me your email and I will assist you
For how long are we going to sit back and watch Mpelembe Drilling Company being plundered of its resources by known Managers/Directors. Am not surprised of whats going on and it will always be the common employee who will suffer at the hands of such people. They retrench hard working employees to safe guard their evil doings. The Managing Director must work extra hard to safe guard employees of this company from unscrupulous Directors/Managers.
i worked for mpelembe and termineted in 2009 due to globle crisis and not been payed my terminal benafits. can the president of zambia help!