State power utility ZESCO has announced its strong intentions to list on the Lusaka Stock Exchange.
ZESCO Managing Director Cyprian Chitundu revealed in an interview that the firm is looking at floating some of its shares on the LuSE in the next two years.
“We are looking at getting the entire preparatory works ready in two years’ time,” Mr. Chitundu said.
“Key is getting our balance sheet cleaned up and addressing some governance issues and we should be good to go.”
Mr. Chitundu said listing on the exchange would help diversify the firm’s source of capital for some of its rehabilitation and expansion programmes.
The ZESCO Chief also noted that plans to list on the LuSE are a directive of its Board of Directors.
“This is in line with the government’s intentions to have all parastatals listed on the exchange to allow public ownership and we are just complying with that directive.
Good move
You clean house first and sort out those pending issues….
Looking forward to the IPO. Clean the balance sheet and deal with all the corruption to attract investor confidence.
hehehehe hahahahahahah kekekekkiikikikikkikiki
It also means the CEO & Management including the Board will have to be cleaned up and professionally selected/appointed by the Board— otherwise who will want to throw good money on bad boys?
Who would risk thier mulla in this corp.
so you do not have to increase tariffs to finance the new power plants?
excellent move!make sure you stick to the time frame so we can make some clean money:)
ZESCO is a very good company to invest in,hope the same ll be done for zamtel,water and sewerage and the rest *government parastatals*….this ll improve customer delivery and the image of these companies at large;good business!!!
I am looking forward to speculate on these shares!!! Can’t wait!
That is the correct way of raising capital, as opposed to your culture of raising tariffs for your business expansions. Capital projects should be funded by injection of fresh capital and/or ratained earnings. Only inflationary adjustments should be passed on to the clients. Please expedite the floatation. We yearn to be local investors, too.
#7, MAYBE YOU MEANT TO SAY ‘SERVICE DELIVERY’ AND NOT ‘CUSTOMER DELIVERY’.
Finally his brain has kicked into gear. Instead of always talking about raising tariffs let them find the money they need this way. This will also foster accountability as the shareholders will want a profit!
BRITISH MPS SAY ZAMBIA MUST STOP MAIZE SUBSIDY
The Government should urge Zambia to stop subsidising maize growers, MPs said, after discovering the initiative cost the African nation more than four times the British aid it received last year.
A report by the Commons International Development Select Committee found £225 million – 8% of Zambia’s government budget – was spent on trading maize at a loss in 2011. This figure dwarfed the sum received in aid from Britain, Zambia’s biggest donor, which stood at £55m last year.
The committee dubbed the subsidy, which was introduced by the last Zambian government, as excessive. Abolition could deliver free secondary education to 300,000 children, build 50 new high schools and recruit 10,000 more teachers, it said. Currently, education is only free until the age of 14 for Zambians.
The committee said: “Zambian revenues could be used much more effectively on public services if a number of significant inefficiencies in public expenditure inherited from the previous government were removed. The maize subsidy is one of the biggest issues which the Zambia government has to confront.”
But the report conceded that withdrawing the subsidy would meet with great public opposition. Aid Minister Stephen O’Brien told the committee in evidence:
“The question is what to do about it, and it is difficult, because it is ultimately a political decision within Zambia.”
The hefty bill associated with the subsidy was exacerbated in the last two years by two consecutive bumper crops. In 2010 the Zambian government bought the harvest at a premium, making a net loss of around 140 million US dollar (£88m), a problem repeated the next year.
Good that ZESCO is going in that direction. Do it fast. @Plastic economy, your report is largely true, but mwana if the government does not do what it is doing then it will sign its political death certificate. The FISP (ferts and seed inputs) and FRA (maize buying and transportation) touches lives of many rural folks who will definately react! Not as easy as the British MPs think. It is a poisoned chalice, boss. Hey, isn’t food security also important?
@Plastic economy, actually even the IMF expressed similar views and initially the PF government had such plans! The FRA communicated that each district would have only five (5) satellite or bulking depots. Background: some districts previously operated even twenty (20) of these! Look at the reduction. Boss, stranded farmers made a kafirfir (kafwafwa) at Agric and DCs’ offices! It could have proved political suicide for the ruling party. They reversed!
@Plastic economy, my dear what those MPs are saying is that ours is a situation where we should be shifting resources from one area of need to another. My view? We should find means of diversifying and expanding our economy in order to be able fund even the social sector adequately. Let’s get dirty working in farms, agro-processing, manufacturing, mining, infrastructure etc so that we can send children to adequately staffed and materially rich schools.
Actually, in the absence of sophisticated service and manufacturing industries many of our people are scratching the ground, tilling the land, turning the soil in villages. Do a google earth view of the land surface appearance of the Zambian bush or vegetation. It is patches all over the place! Another report will tell you we are deforestating rapidly! Why? Farming and charcoal! Come and build industries to absorb the people to keep away from this!
By the way, it is now common to find a ka house with corrugated iron roof, unlike the mud huts in a remote village area with a canter light truck parked there. Ask about the how question. They will tell you that they are maize farmers who benefited from the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) ie subsidised fertiliser and seed. Then they sold their produce to Food Reserve Agency (FRA) and they managed to buy a light truck and send all children to school!
And so how do you successfully WEAN these people from this heavy government support? Definately not a simple political decision as the British MPs are putting it. It’s complicated boss. Anyway, BA ZESCO ANDWENI BWANGUBWANGU CHITENI IFYO FINE. FLOAT THE SHARES ON LUSAKA STOCK EXCHANGE. THAT WILL BE A POSITIVE MOVE.
This can not happen because a business needs to be profitable for minimum of three years.
Good move indeed. And let only Zambians access the shares. We have been waiting for this moment. Let us who know the power of buying shares is while scoffing at those who are not business minded like the above who have spat at this development.