Zambia’s state mining investment firm Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines – Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) is on the lookout for a financial adviser to reform Mopani Copper Mines (MCM), reported Reuters.
MCM, which is 100% owned by ZCCM-IH, owns underground mines, a concentrator, a smelter and a refinery at Mufulira mine site, open pits, a concentrator and a cobalt plant at Nkana mine site in Kitwe.
The investment firm is also seeking a private investor to help boost production at the copper mine.
ZCCM-IH board chair Dolika Banda said that the appointment of financial adviser is “imminent”. A new equity partner would be announced within the next six months to a year.
Last week, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema was cited by Reuters as saying that the government is “very close” to selecting an investor for Mopani Copper Mines.
Hichilema told a press conference: “We believe that with Mopani Copper Mines we are very close but I don’t want to be overambitious,”
Since raising $1.5bn in debt to buy MCM in 2021 from Glencore’s subsidiary Carlisa Investments, Zambia has been seeking new investor for the mine to increase output.
Banda told the new agency in an interview in Lusaka: “To own this mine requires billions of dollars and we can’t continue to be asking the Zambian treasury to be financing exploration, productivity and technology upgrades.”
Banda said that ZCCM-IH, however, will continue to help MCM in servicing its loans and working capital, buying inputs in addition to working on “long-term solutions”.
This statement doesn’t give me hope. MCM was acquired as a going concern, it’s already profiled. If its managers know what they’re doing then what’s the role of a financial advisor? There are many investors that are willing to stake their money but if the current Management Team can’t sale MCM’s profile then they shouldn’t be there. Why do we always look to others to tell us what we want and how to do it? What do you call a manager that doesn’t know what his business requires and it’s operational plan? Bwafya
“Since raising $1.5bn in debt to buy MCM in 2021 from Glencore’s subsidiary Carlisa Investments, Zambia has been seeking new investor for the mine to increase output.”
Ayatollah – The role of a consultant is to give independent advice…the procurement of MCM but the govt led by Lazy LUNGU was flawed and ill-thought out. I am just curious as to my Glencore sold out there must be nothing down there
50 years after independence we still can not run a mine on our on soil…all those engineers and managers ZCCM was sending to England for studies in the 1990s and 80s…where are they?
@ 2 & 3, your 2 comments contradict each other. So withdraw 2 and remain with 3 then we’ll be in synch.
There is something fishy here which should an external Financial Advisor be sought as though MCM has no qualified staff or indeed the country. Watch this space its another way of taking a BIG BITE at MCM. We should be looking for Partners who will pump in the required working capital.
Ayatollah – Comment 2 is in response to your submission and no I am not attempting to be in sync.
Comment 3 is my general overview.
@3 – I think you will find that, most of our educated people were compelled to leave & seek employment abroad, because working conditions in Zambia had deteriorated to intolerable levels. My son recently left Uni, and joined an oil company. And to his pleasant surprise, some of the senior engineers were from Zambia – these are Africans! Not only in engineering, but in education too. I went to an open day at a grammar secondary school – for my daughter, and to my surprise, the head of department for Latin was a Zambian! You will be surprised how many Zambians are at the helm of some really prestigious organisations in the West. Our people are clever; but thoroughly failed by successive politicians…which, I suspect is the case with you too, right?…since you’re in the West…
…too!
#plant a tree please!
Everything you stated is why much of Africa is in the state it’s in. People like you, me and Africans at large need to keep fighting the status quo despite push back from politicians.
Zennia – I dont want to the subject of this discusion…all I am alluding is we simply cannot buy back a mine like Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) with precious revenue it was generating from copper sales from commodity traders based in Switzerland then decide to look for investors again. We should be training our own people to manage these mines like the Botswanas are doing…learn the tricks of the trade.
Zccm-ih has grossly mismanaged could not even keep Ndola lime afloat due to political interference. As for the managers at Mopani, please spare them the 1.5 billion purchase price with a caveat to the metal produced to Glencore is lunatic or a decision that was made in a drunken stupor. Just look at former KCM liquidator claims for a 10% commission from the sale price. Only in Lungu’s govt did such madness prevail