Agriculture Minister Dora Siliya has commended Zambeef Products on successfully raising of US$65 million of capital investment from CDC Group.
The investment has enabled the country’s largest vertically food retailing company to regain full Zambian ownership of its Zamhatch hatchery and Zam Chick broiler divisions after a US$23 million cash buy-back of shares from a South African joint venture partner.
“CDC has seen the potential and that’s why they have come here as a stamp of approval that this country can do well and will do well,” said Ms Siliya.
Mrs Siliya congratulated Zambeef on the development at a corporate function yesterday to acknowledge both the new as well as existing partnerships with various stakeholders Minister of Finance Hon. Felix Mutati, Minister of Livestock and Fisheries Hon. Michael Katambo, Minister of Local Government Hon. Vincent Mwale and Minister of Energy Hon. David Mabumba were also in attendance.
Others in attendance included dignitaries, representatives and guests from various diplomatic missions, relevant government offices, financial institutions as well as cooperating partners and firms as well as Zambeef management and staff.
Zambeef Joint Chief Executive Officer Dr Carl Irwin reiterated Zambeef’s stance on value addition, agriculture and food production in Zambia noting that an increasing number of stakeholders at all levels in the country, public and private, were engaging more in the sector in order to diversify the economy.
“Zambeef passionately believes in Zambia’s agriculture potential, this has always been our stance. We have all the main ingredients for a robust and successful agriculture sector with ample fresh water, land, and human resources and an outstanding climate made available to us. The key to unlocking this potential remains in strategic and deliberately targeted investment aimed at increasing efficiencies in both primary production and agro processing undertakings within the sector. With the new investment we can now focus on our core business of cold chain food processing and retailing, and continue with expansion plans to our distribution and retailing platform in Zambia and the region,” said Dr Irwin.
“With CDC, Zambeef has not only gained in terms of the capital financing but also a partner with an understanding of our vision and with years of experience in investments on the home continent as well as Asia, which will prove valuable as we seek to grow our presence across Africa and into some of the other promising markets,” added Dr Irwin.
The Minister also expressed her confidence in Zambia’s ability to help support the government’s policy of strengthening the agriculture sector as well as become a major player in the region and beyond with local companies such as Zambeef taking the lead.
“We truly must support the private sector because when business makes money, when business makes a profit, then the opportunities for job creation, the opportunities for wealth creation from investment abound. We are not in the business of making money as government. We want to provide the environment, the enabling environment for the private sector, the farmers, the agribusiness to actually make the money,” said Ms Siliya.
She further highlighted the importance of agriculture to the wellbeing of the country and reiterated the urgent need for more investment in the sector in order to regain much of the lost momentum and drive agriculture productivity in Zambia and the rest of Africa into the future.
She called upon the private sector to join government in its quest to ensure that no aspect of agriculture is left behind by partnering with them in developing structural and agricultural infrastructure in and around the 1 million plus hectares of land dedicated to creating farm blocks spread across the country driven by an integrated approach to agriculture.
The Minister was however, quick to point out that significant changes in attitude towards agriculture as well as structural ones needed to be made to create a more enabling environment in order for Zambia to get to where it envisioned itself to be. She further alluded to the fact that while emphasis is being placed on investment, other factors such as research and development, improved agro practices, extension services, post-harvest technology and development of markets locally and regionally all come into play and called for a bold push in inclusive strategies, transparency and thinking outside the Box in creating conditions for the agriculture sector to thrive.
These MMD’ ministers are misplaced in wrong ministries, it was a waste of resources, believe me.
The irony of life. isnt HH a major shareholder in Zambeef. Now all those ministers attending one event. Balibe nchinto?
Ngolwa – who says HH is a shareholder in Zambeef ? Have you got proof of this ?? Why is it that every company that appears to be making money people say HH is a major shareholder of the said company.
Lies won’t get you anywhere ! Zambeef is a private limited company. Go to ir.zambeefplc.com and you will see that you are peddling lies !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HH is not a major shareholder in Zambeef. Zambeef only lists 15% of its equity with the rest held by Carl Irwin and family. Of the 15%, NAPSA owns 9%.
Let’s congratulate Zambeef well done.
Today to acquire good business someone needs good capital in forex.
The government was telling peasant farmers that there’s an open market for goats in Saudi Arabia. 1 million goats every month.
Now which policy does government put in place for people to rear goats?
Or is a 2021 campaign gimmick?
In 2016 they said they struck oil deal after election fuel would cheap. Today open market for goats.
Buy shares now
This is typical of Zambians. Instead of working very hard to empower Zambians we are busy cheering these foreigners who are making huge profits in Zambia on top of us. They don’t mingle with Zambians, apart from tokens like Dr Jacob Mwanza, and leave truly apart from us (the Boors got it wrong, you do not need to control a country to have apartheid).
Ngolwa, HH is not a shareholder in Zambeef..he parted ways with Zambeef and opened morebeef or bestbeef not too sure which one..
Zambeef is on the Lusaka stock exchange so is a public company, however Irwin and Grogan have the most shares.
Just to ensure there is no confusion. Only 15% of the company is listed and of this 15%, NAPSA holds 9%, other shareholding is by ZSIC Pension and other minorities. Let us understand facts and not post rumor.