South African Energy Companies on Trade Mission to Zambia

A trade mission of assorted South African companies in the energy sector will arrive in Zambia on Sunday to hold meetings with Government and various other relevant departments and agencies with the view of embarking on collaborative projects.

About 13 companies have so far confirmed participation in the trade mission which is being organised by the Zambian High Commission in South Africa and the South African Electrotechnical Export Council (SAEEC). The visit is also being supported by South Africa’s High Commission in Zambia and the Department of Trade and Investment (DTI) in South Africa, through its Trade Invest Africa (TIA) division.

The delegation will also be accompanied by Zambian High Commission First Secretary for Economics and Trade, Mr. Mande Kauseni.
SAEEC Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Chiboni Evans has said that her company and the DTI will lead the delegation on the mission that has been scheduled to run from 29 – 31st December, 2017. Ms. Evans says that the delegation is comprised of credible South African companies which would like to understand the environment as they plan to engage in contributing to the development of the Zambia’s energy sector.

“Our intention is not to go into Zambia and sell but we want to go and see how we can come together with Zambian players to find solutions to the energy deficit, ” Ms. Evans said.

She said the trade mission has also included finance institutions such as the Industrial Development Corporation and Development Bank of Southern Africa in order to ensure that South African business engages with Zambia to deliver a complete solution that includes skills transfer, finance, goods, services and investment.

TIA Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Lerato Mataboge said her institution prioritised energy issues because it realised that Africa could not industrialise without energy. Ms. Mataboge said she was optimistic that there would be positive outcomes from the trade mission to Zambia.

The two were speaking when they met Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa, His Excellency Mr. Emmanuel Mwamba at the High Commission offices in Pretoria this morning.

And Mr. Mwamba told the two that the visit was timely as it came at a time when Zambia was not only experiencing an energy deficit but also at a time when the country was diversifying the energy sector by bringing private sector players on board.

Mr. Mwamba said Zambia had a lot of potential which could be exploited for the country to have not only hydro-power but a mix of various sources of energy.
He said Zambia envisaged being an energy power house which should be able to supply electricity to the region.

The High Commissioner urged SAEEC to ensure that a company dealing in power lines was included on the delegation considering that Zambia was currently implementing an ambitious project to upgrade its power lines.

The companies that have confirmed participation are ABB Southern Africa, Actom, Ansys Rail, Conlog, Conco-Consolidated Power Projects Energy Solutions, Eskom Enterprises, Metpress, Pfisterer Transformers, Powertech Transformers, Rethuseng Live Lines and Services, Siyenza, Thyssenkruup Industrial Solutions and Trans-Africa Projects.

TIA is a division of the South African DTI which focuses on facilitating intra-Africa trade and investment by South African businesses while SAEEC is a non-profit company which was established in 2000 as a Public-Partnership with the South Africa’s DTI and Industry to promote the country’s export of products and services in the electrotechnical sector.